/ Vyv 



Pfi 4025 
.M B5 
Copy 1 






t?'^%:S&{r 


' . 4^jf A 


\\\-^ .^ I \ V*H> i 'N -\xi^*v' '• ■ V ^ 


\ '\ "■■ - " - J ' 


^^:.v-:\^xi^-\>>N^.v>»u/ 


m:.i 






- 1 


\ J\ Jr 


JJ^ 




■ 





u^yii 







^ 

^ 


N^"^^ 


\ 


^ 


^% 


1 



■^ 



TRANSLATIONS FROM HOMER 



WILLIAM JOHN BLEW, B.A. 



OXFORD : PRINTED BY TALBOYS AND BROWNE. 



FIRST BOOK OF THE ILIAD 

BATTLE OF THE FROGS AND MICE 

HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO 

BACCHUS, OR THE ROVERS 

SECOND BOOK OF THE ILIAD / ' 



TRANSLATIONS FROM HOMER 

BY 

WILLIAM JOHN BLEW, B.A. 




OXFORD : 
PUBLISHED BY D. A. TALBOYS. 

MDCCCXXXI. 



^^$ 

^^^l^^ 



I UHC 



^^ 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Having been led, during an interval of leisure, 
to translate, for my amusement, the first four 
books of the Iliad, and venturing, for the same 
reason, to print .the first book, together with the 
^' Battle of the Froo-s and Mice, and the two ac- 
^ companying Hymns — it was not my design to 
have extended, beyond these, the compass of my 
- little volume. My Publisher, however, suggest- 
A^ ing that a slight addition would render its dimen- 
sions by no means inconveniently large, I was 
induced, after the sheets, originally intended, had 
been paged and struck off, to add the second 
book of the Iliad, with which the volume now 
concludes. I mention this circumstance in order 
to account for the appearance of the latter book 
in its present unusual position — divorced from its 
natural ally the first book, by the armed inter- 
vention of the Frogs and Mice, and the intrusion. 



IV ' ADVERTISEMENT. 

of various species of contention ; and to excel in 
the humblest of them is to possess some degree of 
merit, and to prefer some claim, however slight, 
to the public favour. He who cannot attain the 
richness and harmony of 'Pope' may yet hope to 
surpass him in fidelity ; and though the spirit and 
freedom of ' Chapman' may not be easily outgone, 
his conciseness and poetical feeling have not much 
to intimidate a competitor of ordinary endow- 
ments. 

" But to come closer to the question, — I hoped 
that to a fidelity equal to the most scrupulous of 
my predecessors^ I might be found to unite a cer- 
tain degree of vigour, and to atone for a defect 
of poetical merit by conciseness and perspicuity. 
When I speak of fidelity, however, let it be ob- 
served, in justice to myself, that I carry the import 
of this word somewhat further than is usually 
done. I translate for the English reader, and do 
not think it sufficient to give him a loose idea of 
the original, but as fair and perfect a transcript 
of it as the difference of .language will admit : at 
the same time it will, I trust, appear that I have 
not, in any instance, fallen into barbarisms or 
violated the idioai of my own country. 

" It has been objected that my lines run into 



ADVERTISEMENT. V 

one another, and that they would have pleased 
more had the sense ended with the couplet. I 
once thought the same ; and in many a school- 
translation ' rhymed and rattled' on very glibly, 
and very much to my own satisfaction ; but I sub- 
sequently formed a different (I must not say a 
more correct) opinion of the duty of a translator ; 
and to that, notwithstanding the gentle admoni- 
tions which have been conveyed to me^ I continue 
to adhere. It will be readily admitted that I 
have not adopted the most easy mode of transla- 
tion ; — since, not content with giving the author's 
sense, I have entered as far as it was in my power 
into his feelings, and exhibited as much of his 
manner, nay of his language (i. e. his words), as 
I possibly could. Expressions which have been 
usually avoided, as not germane to our tongue, are 
here hazarded, for the simple purpose of bringing 
' Homer as he wrote before the unlearned reader, 
who may be assured, that he will find, in few 
versions, as much of the original as in the pre- 
sent : for this of course he must take my affirma- 
tion, — nor is this all, for I have given, him no 
more than the original ; all that will be found 
here, is to be found in ^ Homer.' " 

After all, however, I cannot help apprehending 



VI ADV^ERTISEMENT. 

with Mr. Gifiord himself, that to many " the mode 
here adopted will be less pleasing than a more 
splendid style of versification." — (Giftbrd's Intro- 
duction to Persius, p. ix — xi. 1817.) 

Agreeing then, as I do, in toto, with the tenor 
of the foregoing observations, the appropriation 
of them to my own purpose will not, I trust, be 
deemed presumptuous ; although my compliance 
with the requisitions they contain may have been 
far more imperfect, and proportionably less suc- 
cessful, than that of the learned critic with whom 
they originated ; and whose practice they so hap- 
pily point out. It is impossible, however, in every 
instance to act up to the rules which we profess 
to adopt, and whose authority we do fully recog- 
nize. Consequently, in looking again over the 
following sheets, I discover more passages than 
one, in which these rules have been unnecessarily 
departed from. Such exceptions I believe to be 
neither very numerous nor very important : at 
any rate, it is now too late to correct them. I 
can therefore but advertise^ — and apologise for — 
their existence generally.^ 

* Two, nevertlieless, I will take the liberty of particularizing. The 
fijst occurs in my version of that noble line (the 49th of the first Book 
of the Iliad, page 3.) Aeivij de KXayyij k. t, X, where, for the ner- 
vous simplicity of the original, I have substituted a vague and indefinite 



ADVERTISEMENT. Vll 

With respect to the notes, I have merely to re- 
mark, that, excepting the scriptural, and some 
few other familiar parallelisms, they are likely to 
present very little in the shape of direct illustra- 
tion of the text. Sometimes a word, sometimes 
a bare allusion in the original, has served to recal 
a favourite passage to mind, and has thus become, 

periplirasis. This error, too, is the less excusable on my part, from 
the line being rendered, word for word, and with excellent effect, in a 
" Specimen of an English Homer in Blank Verse," published anony- 
mously in 1807 ; and also in the recent specimen of ^Ir. Sotheby. 

If permitted to make a second attempt, I would render the line, with 
its context, thus — though, after all, far from satisfactorily — 

" Then from the fleet sat far aloof — and drew 
His silver bow — fast forth the arrows flew — 
WTiile ever as they fled — incessant rang 
That silver bow — and terrible the twang. 

W perhaps in the following triplet — if the use of " yew,'' in the third 
line for " bow," may be allowable ; — an extension of meaning sanc- 
tioned, it may be observed, by the example of Dryden, in his Virgil. — - 
.T,n. ix. 854. xi. 1247. 

Then fi'om the fleet sat far aloof — and threw 
An arrow forth — while ever as it flew. 
Dire was the twanging of his silver yew. 

The other needless departure from the letter of the Greek, which 
has been suggested to me by a critical fi'iend, is my rendering of the 
388th line of the first Book. It stands the 11th line from the bottom 
of paje 16, infra ; in place of which I would read the second verse of 
the couplet as follows : — 

Straight rose the king and uttered, in his pride, 
A ruffian threat ; — that threat is ratified. 



Till ADVERTISEMENT. 

as it were, a peg whereon to hang a few detached 
and, otherwise, unconnected fragments.'^ Such is 
the light in which I w^ould have the reader regard 
them — and as such, I hope they will not prove 
altogether uninteresting to him. As to the imi- 
tations of Homer which present themselves at 
every page of our English Poets, the field is so 
wide, and the flowers so endless, that I prefer 
leaving them for the reader's own gathering — if 
he choose to undertake the task. They began to 
multiply upon my hands so fast, that I was com- 
pelled to omit them, or suffer the notes to swell 
beyond all bounds and proportion. 

* One striking parallel from Scripture is omitted, I observe, at p. 39. 
where, with the beginning of Nestor's harangue, (note 29, page 11.) 
should be compared 2 Samuel i. 20. " Tell it not in Gath, publish it 
not in the streets of Ascalon, lest the daughters of the Philistines re- 
joice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph," See also 
Micah i. 10. 

And with the commencement of Agamemnon's speech to Nestor, 
(last line at page 102, ** Father of Greece," &c.) should be compared 
2 Kings ii. 12. and xiii. 14. " My Father, my Father, the chariot of 
Israel and the horsemen thereof." 

Among a few other unnoticed errata, ** Cat -and- Fro o- Fight" has 
been allowed to stand at page 61, under note 6. It should of course 
be ** Oit-and- Mouse Fight" (Galeomyomachia), as indeed it corrects 
itself on the following page. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

FIRST BOOK OF HOMER'S ILIAD ... 1 

NOTES 27 

BATTLE OF THE FROGS AND MICE . . 43 

NOTES 59 

HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO ... 67 

NOTES 77 

BACCHUS, OR THE ROVERS 79 

NOTES 83 

SECOND BOOK OF HOMER'S ILIAD . . 89 

NOTES 109 



there is no poetry but homer s iliads. 

muse's looking-glass. 



FIRST BOOK OF HOMER'S ILIAD. 



Sing, Maid of Heaven! Achilles' wTath, the fount 

Of woe to Greece, and sufferings past account. 

That -v^Tath which downward swept ^ to Death's ^ strong 

hold 
The warrior-spirits of her hrave and bold. 
Leaving their limbs un sepulchred and bare. 
For dogs to rend, and every fowl of air ^ — 
Doom'd from that hour when first, in maddening mood, 
Uprose reviling and asunder stood ^ 
The King of men, and Peleus' heavenly son : — 
Thus willed high Jove, and thus his will was done. 

"\Mio then the god that fired them till they strove ? — 
What power ? the son of Leto and of Jove. — 
Wroth with their sovereign he, thro' each thinned rank, 
Pour'd a loathed plague : in death the people sank^. 
For their proud king on Chiyses' hallowed head 
Heaped foul dishonour, when the priest had sped 
To the swift war-ships of the Greeks, to free 
His daughter from her lone capti^dty ; 
Boundless the gifts he bare, and in liis hand 
Apollo's chaplets and his golden wand ; 



2 FIRST BOOK OF 

To all he breath' d his suppliant prayer, but most 
To Atreus' sons ^ — twain captains of the host. 

'* Princes and mailed warriors! may the powers, 
Who dwell for aye in yon Olympian bowers, 
Accord ye Priam's rampired town to sack, 
And tend your navy on its homeward track, 
— Yield but my child, this rich requital take. 
And dread the Jove-bom Archer's wrath to wake." 
Then rose glad shouts from all the host of Greece '^, 
The priest to homage, and the maid release, — 
All save the king : he bids the seer avaunt, 
With rude dismissal and unholy taunt. 

'' Hence, — Grey-beard ! what 'mid guarded fleets 
dost thou ? 
Hence — no return — -away — nor tarry now, — 
Lest, should I light upon thy form again. 
Vain were that wand, thy god's own chaplets vain : 
But, mark me, ne'er will I the slave unthrall, 
Ere in fair Argos, in my kingly hall, — 
Far from her father and dear father-land, — 
Wrecked be her bloom by Time's invading hand, 
Drudge of the loom — weak handmaid of my will : — 
Hence then, nor chafe me, lest thou perish still." 

Trembling the old man heard his stem command. 
Then slow-departing pac'd the trending strand 
In silent agony, — while from the sea 
Roll'd in the tumbhng billows lustily ; 
Then, a far distance gain'd, he pour'd his prayer 
To him, the king, whom bright-tress'd Leto bare. 



homer's ILIAD. S 

"' Hear me, O thou, with bow of silver bright, 
Thou who dost compass Chrysa in thy might, 
Lord of bright Tenedos and Cilia fair, 
O hear me Smintheus, hear thy servant's prayer I 
If e'er these hands have garlanded thy fane ^, 
If at thine altar-stone the victims slain, 
And burn'd the steaming thighs to thee, O king, 
Of bulls and goats a rich meat-offering, — 
Grant this my prayer, — beneath thy shafts of dread, 
Let Greece weep blood for all the tears I shed 9". 

He prayed, the godhead heard his suppliant cry. 
Wroth waxed his soul, and from the heavens on high 
Apollo came ; — across his shoulder slung. 
His bow of strength and close-wrought quiver hung, 
In wrath he sped, while ever and anon 
Knell'd his keen shafts, he came like midnight on ^^, 
Then sat aloof : fast forth the arrows sprang, 
And the bright bow with death triumphant rang* 
First on the mules the slaughtering shower fell fast. 
Next on the hounds, — on man's doomed race the last ; 
On man was lanc'd the withering bolt amain. 
And quenchless death-pyres lit the midnight plain. 

Nine days swept onward thro' that host forlorn 
The god's swift shafts, but on the tenth bright morn, 
By Peleus' son convok'd, to council press'd 
The banded Greeks, — 'twas Juno's high behest. 
For mark'd had she, in all the gall of grief. 
Her Danaans fall, and fall without relief. 
Then, the wide synod met, and hushed the crowd, 
Uprising, thus Achilles spake aloud. 

B 2 



4 FIRST BOOK OF 

*^ Atrides, nowy methinks, 'twere time to run 
Our homeward course, if death we fain would shun. 
For war, fast leagued with plagues that ne'er shall cease,. 
Wastes our wan ranks, and s^aps the strength of Greece^ 
Up then ! some prophet seek, some priest of heav'n, 
Or seer of dreams, for dreams by Jove are giv'n ^i, 
^Vhose lips the god's fierce wrath may chance explain 
For vows unpaid or hecatombs unslain. 
That, haply, thus he soothe his ravish'd sense 
With fat of rams and choicest goats ^% and hence 
Ward far away the withering pestilence^" 

He spake, and sat. Then straight to them upstood 
Thestorian Calchas, seer supremely good ; 
A^Tiose prophet-ken could pierce with curbless pow'r 
The past, the present, and the coming hour i^. 
He, hj the skill divine from Phoebus shed. 
To Troy's far walls the barks of Greece had led. 
Then with sage counsel thus the seer replies : 

'' August Achilles, at thy call I rise, 
Darling of Jove : — Thou bidd'st me tell the spring 
Of Phoebus' anger, the far-darting king. 
Speak then I will ; but first thy promise plight 
By words to aid and shield me with thy might, 
For biting rage, methinks, his breast will WTing, 
Lord of the Greeks, their leader and their king. 
Dread is a monarch's power, a monarch's pride, 
— ^^Vhen roused, what vassal dare his wrath abide ^^, — 
For, tho' a little space it seem to sleep, 
'Tis cherish'd long, and rankleth dark and deep ; 



HOMER S ILIAD. 5 

Yea, till the hour arrive its sting to wreak, 
'Tis cherish'd: warrior wilt thou shield me? — speak." — 
^* Tell all thou know'st, and tell without disguise 
Thy god's command," — the fleet of foot replies, 
" For by Apollo, Jove's belov'd, I swear. 
By him who oft hath bless'd thine earnest prayer, 
None, while I breathe the breath of life, and tread 
This earth, with heaven's pure light around me spread, 
Of all the Greeks, yon gallant fleet that throng. 
With hand unblest thy hallowed head shall wrong. 
Nay, should'st thou name their chief, not he, ev'n he, 
Tho' o'^r our host he lords it royally." 

Nerv'd thus the sinless seer unshrinking spake, 
^^ For no frail vow he chides, nor victim's-sake, 
But for his priest, whom Atreus' royal heir 
'Reav'd of his child, and scorn'd the gifts he bare. 
Hence the fierce Archer's wasting wrath, and hence 
Unquenched shall rage the fiery pestilence, 
Till your «ad monarch to h^er father's arms 
His child restore in all her maiden-charms, 
Unbought, unsold, without a price, and bring 
To Chrysa's shore a holy offering, 
Then may the god vouchsafe our woes relief." — 
' — He said and sat. Heart-striken then with grief 
Divine Atrides rose, the hero-chief. 
Dark were his thoughts, his soul surcharg'd with ire, 
And his red eyeballs lightened as with fire. > 
On Calchas then his scorn he vented first. 
^* Augur of woe! unhallowed and accurst i^. 



6 FIRST BOOK OF 

Hiine heart mth foul imaginings is fraught, 
False hast thou spoken, and as falsely wrought r 
'Tis I, forsooth, the god's keen shafts defy, 
The head and front of all your wrongs am 1 1 
And this, — sith I for ransom rich and rare, 
Deign'd not to barter back the captive-fair, 
That maid more dear to me than aught beside, 
Than Clytemnestra's self, my wedded bride ; 
Rare tho' my queen, the slave is rarer still. 
In form, in mind, and works of wondrous skill. 
But, since 'twere best, the maid I fi-eely give, 
— My suffering people must not die but live i^. — 
Yet straight a boon prepare ye, — ^lest my lot 
Alone prove thankless, such beseems me not. 
For lo ! my prize — all eyes have seen the sight — 
My hard-earned prize is now another's right." 
To him Achilles, fleeter than the wind : 
** Exalted prince, most grasping of mankind. 
How shall our gallant Greeks thy prize restore. 
Our booty where ? ^tis hoarded up no more ; 
The sack of towns was gathered, shar'd, and spent- 
— How then in one can all again be blent ? — 

Yet thou the maiden yield, the god obey. 
And Greece shall thee with tenfold gifts repay. 
When Jove but grant our conquering arms to sack 
Yon rampir'd Troy, and crown our fierce attack." 

*' Not thus,'^ the monarch of the host replies, — 
" Brave as thou art, and godlike in thine eyes. 
Deceive not thus thy soul, — for, mark me, prince. 
Vain are thy wiles to o'erreach me, or convince. 



HOMER S ILIAD. 7 

^\Tiat, would'st thou have me sit in silence do^vn 

Lacking my prize — and thou retain thine o"vvn ? 

Well — let my Greeks a lordly guerdon bring, 

Sweet to my soul, and worthy of a king, 

Aye, let them bring, lest straight I seize on one. 

From thee, from Ajax, or Laertes' son. 

Rage then he will the suffering chief, I ms. — 

— But hold ! hereafter \^ill we speak of this ; 

Forth then a galley launch, with hands aboard 

Of sturdiest strength, — with votive offerings stor'd ; 

Let fair Chryseis mount the deck, and hark. 

Be some sage chief commander of the bark, 

Perchance shall Ajax or the king of Crete, 

Or great L^ysses our approval meet ; 

Perchance thyself, thou mightiest of mankind, 

Our will shalt bear, and soothe the Bo^^'y'er's mind." 

" O, clad in shamelessness i''," with stem-knit brow, 
The chief returns, *^ for gain a lion thou^^; 
And deem'st one Greek "will e'er at thy command 
'Bide the long march or battle hand to hand ? 
Harm'd not by Troy, this weary way and long 
I hither sped, — she never did me -wrong : — 
My kine, my steeds undriv n, — her pirate-hand 
Ne'er mth wild havoc strew'd my peaceful land. 
Right many a mountain chain, untrack'd and rude, 
And leagues of sea, the fence of Phthia stood : 
No — 'twas for thee, thou thrice bereft of sh^me, 
For thee and thine — thy liegemen true we came. 
But now, hound-fronted slave ! it recks thee not, 
Our worth unhonour d and our aid forgot. 



FIRST BOOK OF 



^Vhat ! — thou vdlt rob me of my beauteous slave, 

Prize of my toils, the guerdon Grecia gave ? — 

Nay, — much shall I to mate thy treasure lack, 

^Tien Greece victorious, Troy's strong hold shall sack, 

]Much as this arm thy craven strength defies 

In deeds of war to match its proud emprize. 

But should we once again the shares assign. 

Vaster thy spoils a thousand-fold than mine -^, 

While I with scant yet dear requital seek 

My distant fleet, vdth toil and warfare weak. 

Now loose we homeward straight ! 'twere best to gain 

With our beak'd navy-^ Phthia's broad domain, 

While mock'd, methinks, and helpless, thou shalt mourn 

Thy war-spoil wasted and thy glory shorn." 

To him the king. *' If such thy will, away! — 
Command we deign not, nor implore thy stay. 
Keen hearts and ready hands shall yet be mine, 
And Jove the all-vrise befriend our proud design. 
Of all the kings in heav ns high favour nurst. 
Thee loathe I most — for slaughter aye athirst -^, 
Unlov*d, disloyal, pitiless, and proud. 
If strong — forget not Jove that strength allow'd. 
Hence ! ^dth thy fleet, thy vassals hold in check, — 
Thyself I scorn, nor aught thy vengeance reck. 
Yet mark ! since Phoebus robs me of my slave. 
My bark, my crews, attend her o'er the wave. 
But to thy tent myself forthwith shall wend. 
And thence thy pride, thy bright Brise'is rend. 
— Thus shalt thou learn how powerless thine estate. 
And vassals dread themselves with kinors to mate'^^. 



HOMERS ILIAD. 

He spake ; dark grief Pelides' spirit press'd, 
And his heart wavered in his stormy breast, 
If first, with brand fast-clench'd, to thrust aside 
The crowd, and smite the tyrant in his pride, 
Or quell his wrath, and curb his fierce disdain, — 
— Thus while his heart and soul unstayed remain, 
Half had his hand unsheathed his battle-blade, 
When on the clouds of heaven Jove's keen-eyed maid 
Came down, at white-armed Juno's high behest, 
For dear was each to her foreboding breast : 
Behind she stood and grasp'd his auburn hair. 
Of all unnoted save Pelides there. 
Struck with strange wonderment the chieftain turn'd. 
And, while her eyes with light unearthly burn'd. 
His conscious soul Athena straight confess'd. 
And thus with winged words the power address'd. 
" Child of high Jove ! why hither sped, O why? — 
— To glut with yon fierce abject' s pride thine eye ? 
Mark but my word, — assured by Fate it lies, — 
In this, the fierceness of his soul, — he dies. 
To him the blue-eyed maid : *' Thy wrath to stay, 
Earthward I sped, do thou our will obey, 
'Twas Juno urg'd my flight thy rage to quell, 
Jove's royal queen who loves ye both so well. 
Rein then thine arm, nor rashly bare thy sword, 
But goad with scorn, and wound him with thy word ; 
For thus I pledge me — thus shall fate ordain, ^ 
^ Ere long shall gifts told o'er and o'er again. 
Aye, costliest gifts, requite this deed of ill ; 
Peace then— arrest thee — hearken — and be still." 



10 FIRST BOOK OF 

To her the fleet of foot : '* O holy maid, 

Be thine and Juno's royal will obeyed 

Despite my soul's deep wrath, heaven claims no less ; 

Who hears the gods — the gods in turn ^vill bless -^." 

He spake, and on the silver sword-hilt laid 

His stalwart hand, and thrust fall home the blade ; 

Then sought Athena — (when her mild behest 

Was all fulfilled) — Olympus' towery crest, 

Jove's golden halls, the mansions of the blest. 

But Peleus' son Atrides straight bespake 

With lip of scorn, and wrath that nought could slake. 

'^ Drunk, and mth wine ! in eye a braggart hound, 

In heart a deer, thy form was never found, 

(When to the battle-plain thy squadrons prest), 

With war's rough harness buckled on thy breast ; 

Ne'er with thy chiefs hast thou in am^bush past 

The watch of night, — for death was on the cast ; — 

No — ^better far thro' yon wide ranks to seize 

His spoils who dares thy tyrant-will displease. 

King ! — ^bom to glut thee wdth a race of nought — 

Else were this wrong the last thine arm had wrought ; 

But, by my troth, 'tis I that speak ! I swear, 

By this, the branchless, leafless stafi* I bear, — 

Fated to bloom not since its parent-cleft, 

Bark'd by steel axe, upon the hills it left, 

And now by their blest hands borne evermore. 

Fathers of Greece, and guards of Jove's just lore, 

Ensign august -^ ! by oath of holiest power — 

By this I swear, ere long shall come the hour. 



homer's ILIAD. 11 

"\Mien Greece Achilles' sa\dng arm shall crave -^, 

And thou, heart-rent, \\dthoiit the power to save, 

Shalt see thine host by Hector's might undone, 

Thy thousands quailing at the sight of one, 

— Then shalt thou smite thy breast and madly shriek — 

* Fool that I was to wrong my noblest Greek.'" 

Pelides spake, and dash'd upon the floor 
His truncheon-staff, "with studs of gold starr'd o'er. 
Then sat. — Full fronting him and black with rage, 
Atrides scowl'd, but straight the Pylian sage 
Uprose their wrath to lull, from whose charm'd Kps 
Flow'd sweeter honey than the wild-bee sips ^7. 
Ere while, the comrades of his earlier day. 
Had wan'd two ages of mankind away. 
And now his arm on Pylos' hallowed shore 
O'er a third race the patriarch sceptre bore ; 
Slowly he rose, and spake the word of peace "^ ; 
" Ye Gods ! what biting woe hath compass'd Greece, — 
Wliat joy for Priam, for his sons what joy. 
What wild delight shall glad the tribes of Troy ^9, 
Should rumour tell that here discordant rave, 
Her "v\isest chiefs, the bravest of her brave ; 
Heed then my prayers, a Other's voice obey, 
With Nestor's match'd your ^^ears are but a day." 

*' Mightier the friends that bless'd my youthful lot. 
Than ye far mightier ^^, yet they scorn' d me not : — 
Perithoiis such, and Dryas, prince of men. 
Their like ne'er saw I — ne'er shall see again. 
Coeneus, Exadius, Polypheme the Great, 
And ^geus' son for heaven's own race a mate. 



12 FIRST BOOK OF 

Bravest were they 'mongst men of eartUy mould, 
^lost brave, their foes the boldest of the bold, 
That churlish horde — the hill-bom Centaur brood, 
'Gainst whom they warr'd, and smote them where they 

stood. 
Their ranks to join, from Pylos' strand afar 
I sped, no laggard at the call to war, 
And fought my bravest ^^ ; but mth them to strive 
'Twere vain for man in these weak days alive ; 
Yet they my counsel heard, obeyed my voice. 
Ye then— give ear — obey me — and rejoice. 
Nor thou, tho' mighty, WTest from him the fair, 
Meed of his toils, the boon of Greece, forbear ; 
Xor thou, Pelides, thirst thy wrath to whet 
'Gainst thy liege lord, for never, never yet 
To sceptred king hath grace so great been given. 
Kings, the sure favourites of the Lord of heaven. 
Tho' might invest thee, tho' a goddess bare. 
Mightier thy prince — -his sway beyond compare, 
Cease then thy rage, O king, 'tis I that pray, 
Turn, from Pelides turn thy wrath away. 
In war's dark hour, our bulwark and our stay." 
^' By heaven ! hoar cliief," Atrides answer made, 
^' Just is thy prayer, and mse what thou hast said, 
But fain would this proud man be lord of all. 
Keep kings in check, and nations hold in thrall, 
Rebellious hopes, but doomed, methinks, to fall I 
What — when with warrior strength his arm it strung, 
Did heaven yield licence to liis gibing tongue ?" 



homer's ILIAD. 13 

Answering hereat divine Achilles caught : 
" A slave were I, — a very thing of nought, 
If e'er I hend me to thy haught decree ; 
School others thus, but cease to marshal me. 
Yet mark my word, and in thy bosom grave ^^, 
This arm of mine I lift not for the slave, 
With thee nor any else, in deadly fray, 
Since ye who gave have snatched my prize away. 
But of the treasure, stored yon bark beside. 
One tittle touch not, by my "vvdll denied, 
— Up ! then and try — that all the truth may feel, 
When thy black life-blood dims my reeking steeL'' 
Thus in sharp feud with words of maddening heat 
They strove, then far'd the conclave to the fleet ; 
Forthwith Pelides to his sea-shore tent, 
Girt by Patroclus and his comrades, went. 
^Miile a brave bark Atrides seaward drew 
With t^\ice ten rowers mann'd, a gallant crew ; 
On board rich offerings for the god he drove. 
And led Chryseis to her seat above ; 
Their chief the sage Ulysses sailed, and they 
Forth launching clave at speed their watery way. 
His host the king in lustra! stream bids lave : 
'Tis done, they cast the ablutions in the wave ; 
To Phoebus then beside the lone sea-shore, 
Of bulls and goats full hecatombs they bore, 
While the rich steam in many a wreathed ring ' 
Round heaven's gate curls, and glads the Bowyer-king- 
Thus in the camp they far'd ; but nought subdued, 
Still press'd the king his fiercely-threatened feud. 



14 FIRST BOOK OF 

Then thus, staunch heralds of their lord's decrees, 

Bespake Talthybius and Eurybates, 

*' Hence ! to the war- tent of Achilles— speed— 

And hitherward the bright Briseis lead, 

Dares he withhold her ? — from her minion's bower, 

Straight mil we wrest her, with our royal power, 

Long time, methinks, his soul shall rue that hour." 

This said, he sternly charg'd them o'er and o'er, 

Then bade them speed : along the wild sea-shore 

With sorrowing step and slow they lingered on, 

And reach' d at length the tented Myrmidon. 

Nigh his pavilion and black bark they found 

The seated chief; he ey'd them and he frown'd : — 

Fear struck — yet mindful of their king's behest, 

Without salute they stood nor aught address'd, — 

But he, their thoughts straight fathom'd, thus began ; 

*' Hail ! heralds, ministrants of god and man. 

All hail ! not ye I curse, but him that bade 

Wring from these arms mine own, my much-loved maid. 

Haste then Patroclus,— son of race divine, 

Haste, lead her forth, and unto them consign : 

Themselves be witness, by the ever-blest, 

By mortal man, and yon loath' d tyrant's breast, 

This saving arm should Greece hereafter pray 

To ward the bitterness of death away, 

And weep — but frenzied are his thoughts, his mind, 

Dead to the past, and to the future blind. 

Shall lend faint succour in that fearful strife, I 

When the Greeks combat at their ships for life." j 



HOMERS ILIAD. 15 

He spake ; his friend in arms the chief obeyed, 
Forth from the tent he led the bright-cheek'd maid, 
Then yielded up ; along the fleet they passed, 
The unwilling maiden lingering still the last. 

Aloof, meanwhile, from all his host, the chief 
On the white sea-beach sat, with eye of grief. 
And looking out upon the deep blue sea. 
His hands in prayer stretch'd forth, spake mournfully. 
'* Since death, dear mother, soon thy son must claim ^^, 
Oh ! why vouchsaf'd not Jove a deathless name ? 
Why wrong me thus ? — for harsh my doom appears, 
Curtailed alike of glory and of years ; 
Ev n now, yon heartless king hath dared despise 
Achilles' wrath — ^he beards me of my prize !'* 
Sorrowing he spake, his prayer the holy queen 
Heard as she sat in Ocean s depths unseen ; 
— She heard — and instant from her father's side 
Rose like a mist above the unruffled tide. 
Then as he wept, before him stood confessed, 
Sooth'd with soft hand, and mildly thus addressed. 
^* Why mourns my son ? why streams the ceaseless 

tear? 
Unlock thine heart and trust a mother's ear." 
Then with deep groans he spake ; *' Too well, too well. 
The tale thou know'st — what boots it thee to tell? — 
On Thebes we march'd, Eetion's hallowed town. 
Then sack'd and hither drove the warspoil down ; 
Our Greeks the booty carved, and Atreus' son 
His bright-cheek'd maid the fair Chryseis won. 



16 FIRST BOOK OF 

But Cliryses straight, the priest of Phoebus, sought 

The fleet of Greece, mth boundless ransom fraught, 

To buy his daughter back, and in his hand 

Apollo's chaplets and his golden wand ; 

To all he pour'd his suppliant prayer, but most 

To Atreus' sons, twain captains of the host. 

Then shout, accordant, all the sons of Greece, 

The priest to homage, and the maid release. 

All save the king, — he bade him stem avaunt. 

With rude dismissal, and unholy taunt : 

Wrathful the hoary sage withdrew, and pray'd — 

Apollo listened, and vouchsaf d his aid, 

Then sped the death-shafts down, the people sank 

Corse prone on corse, while through each wasted rank 

Fast flew the arrows of his wrath abroad, — 

— Then spake our seer the mandate of his god : — " 

Full soon had I the godhead first appeas'd 

By rite and prayer, but wrath Atrides seiz'd ; 

Straight rose the king and threatened in his pride 

A threat resistless, stampt, and ratified. 

To Chryses now they send his child, and bring 

In a brave bark rich presents for the king, 

While vassal-hands have hence from out my tent 

The award of Greece, the bright Briseis rent, 

But thou, if thine the power, befriend thy son, 

Olympus seek, and pray the Almighty one — 

(If thou in aught hast earned his parent-love. 

By word or deed, and charmed the soul of Jove), — 

For oft within my father's halls of state 

Oft have I heard thee, and with pride relate. 



homer's ILIAD. 17 

That thou alone didst ward, of all on high, 

Shame from the cloud- wrapt ruler of the sky, 

When handed heaven to fetter Jove essay'd — 

False Juno, Neptune, and the hlue-eyed maid : 

But, goddess, thou to loose him from his thrall. 

Didst swiftly up the steep Olympus call 

Him of the hundred hands, tremendous hirth, 

Whom heaven Briareus names, iEgeon earth ; 

Ev'n than his mighty sire, more mighty he. 

By Jove he sat, grim smiling in his glee : 

Shuddering the gods heheld him, and no more 

Fed their arch-pride, but straight the gyves forehore ; 

Seek then his throne, recount the deed of love. 

Clasp, clasp his knees, perchance the will of Jove 

May bless the Trojans, while his iron hand 

Smites the coop'd Greeks upon their bark-lin"d strand ; 

Thus all may taste their king, and curse the pride 

That, T\Tonging me, the noblest Greek defied." 

And Thetis answered him, with weeping ^\ild : 
'' Now woe is me that bare thee, O my child. 
Bane of my soul ! ah ! would to heaven, that still 
With tearless brow, and all unscath'd of ill. 
Thou by thy fleet hadst sat, for scant thy date, 
Span-like, and narrowed by the doom of Fate. 
Yet fleeting thus, and nurst in saddest hour, 
For this I bare thee in my maiden-bower ! — 
— Yes, — I 'v\dll up the snow-clad hill of heaveli, 
To Jove, that glorieth in the flery levin, 
To him my tale recount, and in his ear 
Pour the warm prayer, perchance the god will hear. 

c 



18 FIRST BOOK OF 

But tlioLi the while, lone sitting by the main, 
Rage an thou ^\alt, yet shun the battle -plain. 
For Jove yestreen, by Ocean's sunny spring 3^, 
Join'd the blest Ethiops' blameless banqueting, 
Jove and the gods, — but to his mountain-home 
On the twelfth morrow will the godhead come : 
Then to his halls of brass myself I speed, 
And clasp his knees, — perchance the god will heed." 

She spake and left him : — from his imnost heart 
Swell'd deadliest rage, to part, and thus to part, 
From the fair maiden, in his wrath's despite, 
Mock'd by the Greeks and bearded of his right. 

Meanwhile to Chrysa's shore the bark is come. 
Fraught with the maid and holy hecatomb, 
Now far within the many-winding bay 
The sails they furl, and lower on deck away. 
Then, slack'd the forestay, on its crutch they stow 
The mast, and onward to their station row ; 
Out moorings ^^ then — the stem-ropes fast to land, — 
Forth fare the shipmen up the ridgy strand. 
Forth — the fat kine to Phoebus doomed to bleed. 
And forth Chryseis from the bark they lead ; 
Then at the altar, to her sire's caress 
The chieftain yields her with this mild address : 
" Chryses, the king of warriors bade me bring 
To thee thy child, and offerings to thy king. 
Have mercy then, and sooth his soul to peace. 
For deep the anguish he hath \\TOUght on Greece." 
He spake, and gave her. He^ with rapture wild. 
Strains to his heart his lost, his much-lov'd child. 



homer's ILIAD. 19 

Meanwhile the crew their votive herd drove on, 

And ranged around the well-wrought altar-stone, 

Then lav'd their hands, and grasped the salted cake. 

When thus, with arms uplifted, Chryses spake ; 

" Hear me. Oh ! thou with bow of silver bright — 

Thou who dost circuit Chrysa in thy might. 

Lord of bright Tenedos, and Cilia fair. 

If erst thine ear vouchsaf 'd mine humble prayer. 

If thou, O king, in vengeance honouring me. 

Didst smite the Danaan host right fearfully, 

Once more arise, once more my prayer accord. 

Hear, and from Greece this grim destroyer ward." 

Praying he spake, his prayer the godhead won ; 

Then pray'd the Greeks and flung the salt meal on. 

Backward the kine they wrench'd, then stabb'd and flay'd. 

The thighs carved off, a double cawl they made, 

Then in rich folds of fat the limbs they wound. 

And layers, unseeth'd, the well-pil'd viands crown'd, 

The' hoar elder straight, on brands of cloven pine. 

Broils the choice food, and pours the blood-red wine, 

While round the venerable priest a throng 

Of youths stands rang'd, with each a five-branch 'd 

prong. 
The thighs well broil' d, the inward parts they taste. 
Then, sliced, the rest is on their flesh-prongs plac'd, 
Meanwhile, with passing skill they roast and broil. 
Then, all drawn off, they rest them from their toil, 
And deck the board, the holy feast prepare, 
Nor lack'd one soul his just-apportioned fare. 

c 2 



20 FIRST BOOK OF 

All cra\dng banish' d ^^ — now young hands brim up 

The bowl, and cro^^Ti mth mne the "s^Teathed cup, 

Then round to each, the due libation made, 

Full beakers bare, and fitting service paid, 

— Sons of the Greeks — thro' all the livelong day, 

With hymns of peace and chaimted roundelay 

The god they soothed, — in notes of praise address'd, 

Heaven's archer heard, he heard them and he bless'd. 

The sun went down — 'twas darkness on the deep — 
Fast by the stem-ropes each lay down to sleep. 
But when the springing morn with rosy feet 
Tripp'd forth — they weigh'd for Grecia's long drawn 

fleet. 
By Phoebus sent, the west-wind freshly blew. 
Up went the mast, and forth the white sails flew 
Fill'd by the gale, — the tumbling surge and dark 
Roar'd round her keel, beneath the bounding bark : 
She, mth wing'd speed, the paths of ocean crost. 
And gain'd right soon the Grecians' wide-ranged host. 
Straight up the beach they haul their bark, and stow 
High on the sands, and stretch stout warps below : 
This done, the ready crew dispersing went 
To seek, as each beseem'd, his ship or tent. 

Fast by his fleet, meanwhile, with vengeance stung, 
Sat the stem chief, from Jove-born Peleus sprung : 
To council throng' d the kings — he went not there — 
The battle bray'd — his heart in lone despair 
Prey'd on itself, yet lingering far away, 
Throbb'd at the shout, and panted for the fray. 



homer's ILIAD. 21 

But when the twelfth glad mom relum'd the sky, 

Back sped the immortals to theur bowers on high, 

And Jove their leader : — of her son's request 

Forgetful not, from Ocean's wavy breast 

Fair Thetis rose, at early dawn, and went 

Thro' the thin air and golden firmament ; 

Olympus gain'd, upon his topmost throne 

The god she found, high seated and alone ; 

Couch'd at his feet, her white hands trembling seize — 

His beard her right ^^, — ^her left his hallowed knees ; 

Then thus with prayer bespeaks Satumian Jove : 

" All-mighty sire ! if aught for thee I strove 
By word or deed, when heaven conspir'd thy fall, 
Bow down thine ear, and hear me when I call. 
Lift up my son — most fleet, of mortal race. 
And few his years, yet darken'd by disgrace — 
For lo I from out his arms yon tyrant king 
Dares his rich guerdon, aye, himself, dares wring. 
Then glorify my son, Olympian sire. 
And rallying Troy with tenfold vigour fire. 
Till Greece, repentant Greece, his name adorn. 
With deathless praise and glory yet unborn." 
She said : — no word the cloud-compeller spake. 
Silent he sat, nor long the silence brake : 
Yet still his knees she clasp'd, and to his side 
Still clinging, thus again the goddess cried, 
'* Plight me thy promise straight ! my prayer appro ve- 
Or straight deny — for terror binds not Jove : — 
Thus shall myself of all the gods descry 
How far the meanest in thy sight am I." 



22 FIRST BOOK OF 

Then, greatly grieved, spake cloud-compelling Jove : 
" The deed were death — again why bid me prove 
The stings of anger, when my jealous queen 
Chafes my worn soul mth biting taunts and keen. 
Before all heaven 'tis thus with fresh annoy 
She galls, and brands me as the friend of Troy ; 
Hence, then ! lest Juno fathom thy design, 
Hence — the fulfilment of the deed be mine : 
But mark, so thou believe, mine head I bow, 
Heaven's holiest token, Jove's supernal vow, 
For ne'er reversed, unratified, or dead, 
Falls the deep issue, if I bow mine head." 

He spake — and darkly his black eyebrows bent : — 
Then from the head of Heaven's omnipotent 
His locks ambrosial, waving to and fro, 
Stream'd forth — and vast Olympus rock'd below ^. 

The conference o'er, they part : her own deep wave 
From heaven's far-beaming hill the goddess clave, 
Jove sought his high pavilion : from his seat 
Rose every god their coming sire to meet, 
For none at Jove's approach dare thron'd remain, 
But forth and meet him, all the immortal train. 

High thron'd he sate — nor Juno's ken erewhile 
O'erlook'd that stealthy interchange of guile, 
When to old Ocean's silvery-footed child 
Jove bow'd assent, — she saw, and thus revil'd ; 
" O full of craft ! what power now shares thy heart ? — 
'Tis ever thus ; from me, thy wife, apart. 
Still teems thy bosom Avith some dark design, 
Free to all ears, but never food for mine." 



HOMERS ILIAD. 23 

** Seek not," the sire of gods and men replies, 

*' To probe each purpose that my thoughts devise ^9, 

For hard were such to thee — with peril rife — 

— Aye, ev'n to thee — my lov'd, my wedded wife. — 

Whate'er thy knowledge fits, none other ear 

Of gods or men before thine own shall hear, 

But what, aloof from all, our thoughts design. 

Seek not in vain to fathom or divine." 

Him answering, thus bespake the large-eyed queen : 

*' Dread lord ! — how terrible thy words have been ; 

Ere this, thy thoughts I question not, nor scan, 

Thy peace unharass'd, uncontroFd each plan. 

But now I dread lest thou, in heart bewray'd. 

Yield to hoar Ocean's silvery-footed maid ; 

For prone before thy feet, at dawn of day. 

Those knees she clasp'd, and bare, I ween, away 

Jove's plighted troth, that tenfold shall increase 

Achilles' pride, and wreck the host of Greece." 

The cloud-compeller thus : *' O most unwise — 

Fraught but mth guile, suspicion, and surmise, 

Thy will thou ne'er shalt work, and only prove 

Lost to thyself, and alien from my love. 

Sit then — for such the pleasure of thy lord — 

In silence sit, nor murmur at my word. 

Lest vain the aid of all the gods in heaven, 

If once this hand I lift to vengeance driven." 

He spake : the bright-eyed, trembling at his frown, 
In silence sat, and bowed her spirit down : 
Wrath reign'd o'er heaven:^ — but straight sage Vulcan 

rose. 
Fraught with sweet spells to sooth his mother's woes. 



24 FIRST BOOK OF 

" Aye, 'twere a deed of deathj the gods to shake 
With broils and tumult for poor mortals* sake, 
A deed that none may bear : — if folly reign, 
Vain the sweet feast, the board's enchantment vain. 
List, mother, list, — thyself must deem it best. 
With softest mtchery sooth thy sovereign's breast. 
Lest wratli arouse our father and our lord 
To mar with riot heaven's blest banquet-board. 
WTiat — cannot he, who wields the flashing levin, 
Uproot us ^^ — he — the omnipotent of heaven ? — 
Then, so may Jove vouchsafe his sons to bless. 
Sooth thou his soul with words of tenderness." 
He said, and mth a light bound springing up 
To Juno's hand presents the twofold cup. 
And cries — ** forbear thee, mother mine, forbear, 
Tho' torn in spirit, Jove's fierce ^\Tath beware. 
Lest I all powerless watch, wdth these sad eyes> 
His iron arm thy form belov'd chastise ; 
Vain then mine anguish, vain for thee my love, 
— What god dare wrestle with Olympian Jove ? 
Myself, erewhile on succour bent, he swung 
Round by my foot, and o'er heaven's threshold flung ; 
Do^Mi, down, I coursed — sheer do^vn, the livelong day- 
— At even-fall on Lemnos' isle I lay- 
Scant breath, I ween, was left me then, but straight 
Came Sintian leech, and nurs'd my fallen weight.'* 

The goddess smil'd, and smiling from her boy 
Welcom'd with snowy hand the cup of joy ; 
The draught he cro^vns to all the gods aright, 
— Sweet nectar mantling from the flagon bright — ► 



HOMER S ILIAD. 



25 



While quenchless laughter shakes the heavenly throng, 
To see grim Vulcan as he limps along. 

Thus they, till set of sun, with holiest glee, 
Crown the long day, and feast right merrily : 
Still rings Apollo's golden lute, and still 
Heaven's Minstrel-Nine the lay alternate trill. 

But when the shades of night hegan to lower, 
They sought for slumber, each his own blest bower, 
Where Vulcan erst with subtlest skill had wrought 
Pavilions rich beyond the scheme of thought. 
Then mov'd the Lightener to his couch of rest. 
Where sweetest slumber oft his eyelids prest. 
There laid him down to sleep, and at his side, 
Lapp'd on her throne of gold, his royal bride. 



NOTES 



FIRST BOOK OF HOMER'S ILIAD. 



Note ^ p. 1.] Downward swept. Trpotaypev. irpo omni vi caret. 
Scbleusner Lex. N, T. v. 2. p. 671. 

Note ^, p. 1.] Death's strong hold. Quasi sepulchrum Hades 
esset, fere ad Hebraeorum rationem a Lowthio (Prfelect. vii.) ex- 
plicitam. Simili mode miscentur notiones sepulchri et inferorum 
apud Tragicos. Heyn. Pindar. Pyth. v. 130. 

Vid. Virg. ^n. iii, 63. 

""AidrjQ de tottoq rjfiiv dsLSrjg ijyovv d^avrjq Kai dyvcJCTTog 6 rag 
^vxdg TffiCjv evTsvOsv kicdrjuovcTag dexoixevog. Andreas Caesar, 

ToTTog yap 6 adrig vno yrjv d7roKeK\r]pii}[xevoQ TaXg tuv cnzbQvr]- 
(TnovTiov \jjvxciig» Euthymius. 

Notes, p. 1.] 

Leaving their limbs unsepulchred and hare, 
For dogs to rend J and every fowl of air — 

Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, and 
him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat, for the 
mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 1 Kings, xiv, 11. Comp. 
1 Kings, xxi, 24. 



28 



E'l cadavero infame ai corvi lassi. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xii, s. 104. 

And the foul carcass to the vultures left. 

Canibus data praeda Latinis 
Alitibusque. Virg, ^n. ix, 485. 

Cast forth to Latian hounds a prey 
And the wild birds. 



Deforme alitibus liquere cadaver Iberis. 

Sil. Ital. Pun. lib. ii, 269. 

The gTim corse left they to the birds of Spain. 



Yulnerum amnes avids ferae 

Et flavipedi avi 

Accepimus. Ragnar Lodbrog, Epicedium. 

Then we laid the mighty low, — 
Loosed the life-blood's torrent flow, — 
Bidding to their carrion-feast 
Rending fowl and ravening beast, 

'EXXa^ (TTEvd^si Tracra tovq ksvovq TCKpovQ, 
OvK 6(TTo9riKaiQt x^ipd^ujv d' kcprjfievovQ, k. t, \. 
Lycophron. Cassandra, p. 66, ed. Canter. 1601. 

Hellas ! mourn from sea to sea, 
Many an earth-tomb tenant-free ; 
Theirs no bone-fraught urn, nor chest, 
Where the fire-proof ashes rest, 
iCor embalm 'd nor sepulchred — 
— Such the burial of the dead. 



I 



NOTES. 29 

But upon the rocks they sleep. 
Rocks — that bristle o'er the deep. 
Theirs a piteous name alone, 
Theirs the empty sculptured stone. 
Oft by parent and by child 
Water'd with the scalding tear. 
By the widow's wailing wild 
Hallowed ; — such the warrior^s bier ! 

XoteS p. 1.] 

Whenjirst, in maddenbig mood, 
Uprose reviling and asunder stood. 

Their swords were often half unsheathed, red rolled their eyes of 
rage. Separate they stood — Why should they yield to each other ? 
Their fathers were equal in war. 

Ossian, Cath-loda Duan ii, vol. i, p. 19. 

Note 5, p. 1.] 

Fourd a loathed plague — in death the people ianh. 

Comp. 2 Sam. xxiv, 15. 

Note^, p. 2.] Twain captains, oxvoov Z,evyoQ 'ATpsicuJv [stout 
brace of Atridae.] ^schyl. Agam. 
I would alter these lines thus : 

Heart-breath'd his prayer to all, but heartiest far 
To Atreus' sons, twain captains of the war. 

Note", p. 2.] 

Then rose glad shouts from all the host of Greece. 

Tatto I'ordine suo concorde freme 

E chiamando il consiglio utile e buono. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. iv. s. 82. 



30 NOTES. 

Forthwith the marshaled files accordant shout, 
And cry, ^'the counsel gainful is and good." 

Cuncti simul ore fremebant 
DardanidaB. ^n. i, 560. 

At once loud shouted all the sons of Troy. 

Cosi pregava ; e ciascun altro i preghi, 
Con favorevol fremito, seguia. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xiv, s. xxv. 

Thus Guelpho prayed, and every other there. 
With favouring murmur, seconded his prayer. 

Dixerat hasc, unoque omnes eadem ore fremebant. 

^n. xi, 132. 

Thus Drances spake, and all with one acclaim 
Loud shouted joyous, and approved the same. 

Vid. Odyss. M, 294. 
Notes, p. 3.] 

If e'er these hands have garlanded thy fane, 

S'accesi ne' tuo' altari umil facella, 
S'auro incenso odorato unqua ti porsi ; 
Tu per lei prega si, che fida ancella 
Possa in ogni fortuna a te vaccorsi. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xii, s. 28. 

To thee if gold and incense I have paid. 

If e'er with lowly taper lit thy shrine. 

Thy prayers vouchsafe her, that the loyal maid 

In eveiy change herself to thee resign. 

Vid. Odyss. A. 763, and P. 240. 



NOTES. 31 

— Colui vestros si semper honored?. 

^n. xii, 778. 

If I thine honours aye have worshipped. 
Note^ p. 3.] 

Let Greece weep blood for all the tears I shed, 

Ps. xxxix, 12. O Lord, hold not thy peace at my tears. 

Note^^, p. 3.] He came like midnight on. He comes a gathered 
mist. Ossian's Carthon, Macpherson vol. i, p. 90. 

Xote^^ p. 4.] For dreams by Jove are given. The Lord came 
to Abimelech in a dream by night. Gen. xx, 3. 

Note^^, p. 4.] With fat of rams and choicest goats. Your lambs 
shall be without blemish, etc. Ex. xii, 5. 

Note 13, p. 4.] 

Whose prophet-ken could pierce with curbless poicer 
The past, the present, and the coming hour. 

Then Herfadur to his hands 

Gave the rings and bracelet-bands. 

Spell of riches, wisdom's eye. 

And the staffs of prophecy, 

Well and widely these he kenn'd, 

O'er the earth from end to end. The Voluspa. 

Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, 
and the things which shall be hereafter. Rev. i, 19. 
Notel^ p. 4.] 

Dread is a monarch's power, a monarch's pride. 
When roused, what vassal dare his wrath abide ? 

The ire of princes is as the wrath of a lion. Kenilworth. 
Nothing so wild as jealousy of kings. Cowley's Davideis. 



32 NOTES. 

The wrath of a king is as messengers of death. Proverbs, xvi, 14. 

The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion. Proverbs, xix, 12. 

Vengeance may be postponed, but it never grows cold. 

Vid. Upham's Ottom. Emp. vol. ii, p. 115. 

Can I behold the eyes of the king ? They are terrible in his dis- 
pleasure, and like the flames of death. Ossian, Lathmon, vol. i, 
p. 340. 

Note^^ p. 5.] 

Augur of woe! unhallowed and accurst , 
Thine heart with foul imaginings is fraught, 
False hast thou spoken, and as falsely wrought. 

And the king of Israel said unto Jehosaphat, there is yet one man, 
Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord : 
but I hate him ; for he doth not prophecy good concerning me, but 
evil. 1 Kings, xxii, 8. 

Note ^6, p. 6.] 

My suffering people must not die but live. 

Buy for us from thence: that we may live and not die. Gen. xlii, 
2 ; see too xliii, 8, and xlvii, 19. 

I shall not die, but live. Ps. cxviii, 17. 

And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that 
smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done 
wickedly ; but these sheep, v/hat have they done? 2 Sam. xxiv, 17. 

jS^ote^"^, p. 7.] 0, clad in shamelessness. Let them be clothed 
with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me. 
Ps. xxxv, 26; Ixxxix, 45 ; cxxxii, 18. 

They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame. Job viii, 22. 

Note ^^, p. 7.] For gain a lion thou, Kepda\E6(ppov, vulpina 
mente pr2edite, — Ksp^aXkog, astutus, lucrosus, kso^uj vulpes ; KFpcog 
lucrum. 

L'opere mie 
Non furon leonine, ma da volpe. 



NOTES. 33 

Less my deeds bespake 
The nature of the lion than the fox. 

Gary's Dante, Inf. c. xxvii, 74. 

Note2o, p. 8.] 

Vaster thy spoils a thousand-fold than mine. 

Taccio, ch'ove il bisogno e'l tempo chiede 
Pronta man, pensier fermo, animo audace ; 
Alcuno ivi di noi primo si vede 
Porta fra mille morti o ferro, o face ; 
Quando le palme poi, quando le prede 
Si dispensan nell' ozio e nella pace ; 
Nostro non sono gia, ma futti loro 
I trionfi, gli onor, le terre, Toro. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. viii, s. 65. 

Well wot ye when the straits of time demand 

A ready arm, keen heart, and purpose stout, 

Thro' deaths innumerous, arm'd with blade and brand, 

Vanmost we rush and scare the craven -rout; 

But when in hour of peace, with grasping hand, 

The palms and prey of battle carve they out, 

Nought is our portion, valueless our share. 

The grace, the triumphs theirs, the gold and lordships fair, 

Note^', p, 8.] Beaked navy, vtjvai Kopojvim, out raven-baiks^ 
either beaked or black, like a crow. 

Note-^, p. 8.] For slaughter aye athirst. The wrathful delight 
in death. Their remembrance rests on the wounds of their spear. 
Strife is folded in their thoughts. Their words are ever heard. 
Ossian's Temora, b. iv, vol. ii, 87. 

Note'^^p. 8.] 

And vassals dread themselves with kings to mate. 

I'll seek the maid 1 love, tho' in ray way 
A dozen generals stood in fierce array, 



34 NOTES. 

Such rosy beauties nature meant for kings, 
Subjects have treat enough to see such things. 

Bomb. Furioso, s. 2. 

Note 24, p. 10.] 

Who hears the gods — the gods in turn will bless. 

If any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he 
heareth. John ix, 31. 

Note 25, p. 10.] Ensign august. Thus we have in the second 
book (line 101.) the pedigree of Agamemnon's sceptre, registered 
descent by descent. The following is the entire passage. 



ILIAD BOOK II. 

'RvTs eOvea el(n fieXKjadcjv ddivdcov. Lin. 87. 

Ev'n as the swarming honey-bees, that flock, 
Still fresh and fresh, from out the rifted rock. 
Flit in thick clusters o'er the flowers of spring. 
Now here now there, yet ever on the wing, 
Ev'n thus the marsh all' d tribes from bark and tent 
O'er the steep sands outpour'd to council went ; 
For in the midst a burning voice was heard 
That urged them onward, — Jove's immortal Word : 
They met — confusion all — deep groaned the ground 
While down they sat — and tumult roared around. 
Then heralds nine went forth to quell the din, 
And for the Jove-nursed kings meet audience win, 
Crying aloud : — the impatient host thereat 
Took each their seats, and close embodied sat. 
Straight then upstood, their noisy clamour still'd, 
The king of men — his hand the sceptre fill'd, 
The which sage Vulcan erst had wrought, and given 
To Saturn's son, high Jove, the king of heaven; 



NOTES. 3-5 

Jove to his son — the herald Argicide ; 
To Pelops, he, who lashed the courser's side; 
Pelops to Atreus, shepherd-prince, — in death 
He to Thyestes did its power bequeath, 
Thyestes — rich in flocks that track the thymy heath. 
To Agamemnon he — therewith to reign 
Lord of the Isles, and Argos' broad domain. 
Note26, p. 11.] 

When Greece Achilles* saving arm shall crave, 

Ben tosto fia 

Ch'assai piu chiaro il tuo valor estremo 
N'apparira, mentre starai lontano : 
E senza te parranne il campo scemo. 
Quasi corpo, cui tronco e braccio o mano. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. v, s. 50. 

Thy valorous worth far more exceeding clear 
Shall shine, thyself the while aloof, and reft 
Of thee, the camp shall halt and maim'd appear. 
Like the lopt trunk whence hand and arm is cleft. 

ov firjv dvareiy' ovv d' dvev fiox^MV TTiKpuiv 
TTEvOoig 9' 6 \rj(TTrjg Aiopievg yeX^ arparoQ, k. r. \. 

Lycophron, Cassandra, p. 55, ed. Canter. 1601. 

Proof not yet 'gainst vengeance' arm, 
Not unscathed by bale and woe. 
Laughs that Dorian robber-swarm. 
Grinning o'er the fallen foe. 
Round their ships, with death-fires rife, 
Lo ! they run the race of life, — 
While the tall pines round them burn, 
They to Jove the Router pray. 
That the sting of death he turn, — 
— From the broken, — turn away. 



36 NOTES. 

Vain the breast-work, vain the fosse. 
Spiked with serried stakes across ; 
Vain shall in that hour be found, 
Rampired fleet, and leaguered mound. 
Stem and stern and half-deck o'er, 
Lo ! the tumblers leap amain. 
Leap, — and with their gushing gore, 
Lo ! the foeman's dust they stain. 

Comp. line 344 infra. 

Note 27, p. 11.] 

From whose charmed lips 
Flowed sweeter honey than the wild-bee sips. 

How sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than 
honey unto my mouth. Ps. cxix, 103. 
Note 28, p. 11.] 

Slowly he rose, and spake the word of peace. 

Subjoined is the speech of Colocolo from the 2nd Canto of Er- 
cilla's Araucana, an harangue esteemed by Voltaire a masterpiece 
of oratory and immeasurably superior to that of Nestor before us. 
The good old Gerenian's systematic eulogy upon his own wisdom, 
and the humble standard to which he reduces the degenerate race 
he is addressing, in comparison with the contemporaries of his 
youth, appears, certainly, a somewhat equivocal method of prepos- 
sessing the audience in his favour. The Chilian chiefs had been 
assembled to organize a plan of revolt against the Spaniards, who, 
after a struggle of six years, had finally reduced them to submission. 
Their proceedings were opened, " more Germanorum," with a ban- 
quet, at which, after enjoying copious infusions of chicha, they 
forthwith began descanting on their deserts. Their apple of dis- 
cord, however, unlike that of the gallant Greeks, was *' no bright 
maid's bewitching form," but the more ambitious possession of 
sovereign power. In the midst of their turbulent discussion " the 
old man eloquent" rises, and thus remonstrates with them on the 



NOTES. 37 

madness of their present contention, proposing that genuinely 
savage method of decision set forth in the closing stanza of the ex- 
tract. It is accepted, and the choice falls upon an one-eyed chief 
named Caupolican, who, after making the gigantic plant the com- 
panion of his rambles for two days and two nights, flings it away at 
sun-rise on the third morning, ** with a skip and a bound and a 
song of sweet sound/' 

'* Caciques del Estado defensores 

Codicia de mandar no me coinbida," etc. Canto ii. 

Caciques — brave guardians of your father-land, 
Here at its call in warrior council met, 
Deem not for hungry lust of high command 
I lift my feeble voice — or idly fret 
To see the rough debate your spirits whet 
That post to win, which haply might have crown'd 
My wintry years — they are not vnthered yet — 
For nobler thoughts my lips this warning sound. 
Her children's patriot love, my country's bleeding wound. 

Oh ! wherefore urge ye each the chiefs high claim — 
Why this supremacy of honour crave ? 
What ! — would ye hide the blackness of your shame — 
Thralls of the stranger — bondsmen of the slave ! — 
Such thoughts be yours, for such beseem the brave. 
Oh ! then no more do ye, the oppressed of Spain, 
With fangless fury gnaw the links, and rave 
In wordy wrath, but on the battle plain 
Strike the fierce foeman down, and burst your bonds in twain. 

What madness this— the childishness of rage — 
That to your ruin blindly hurrieth 
Ye, O ! Araucans. War, fierce war, ye wage 
'Gainst your own selves, and in your bowels sheath 
With your own hands the steel, your tyrant's death 



38 NOTES. 

Which else had wrought, impelled by holiest hate, 
Foes of your land, your freedom, and your faith. 
Oh ! if to die then be your thirst so great, 
Not thus abased die — cast down, degenerate : 



But up ! and thrust the keen-edged battle blade. 
And fix the barb'd sting of each frenzied breast, 
Full in their hearts-core, who have foully made 
Ye to all lands a mockery manifest , 
Hence with the yoke which long, too long, hath prest 
Your necks in iron-bondage — that suprem.e 
In prowess ever be your might confest. 
Nor shed the life-blood of the land, a stream 
Powerful, ev'n yet, from death her children to redeem. 



Your proud resentment and your heart's disdain 
I ken right clearly, and behold with joy. 
Yet somewhat dread I, lest, with wayward rein. 
Wild frenzy from the rightful path decoy. 
And on base ends these noble thoughts employ. 
Till, to yourselves becoming foes accurst, 
Ye stab your bleeding country and destroy — 
If nought appeased. Nay, v^eak on me your worst. 
First-fruits of death, and here bleed this old heart the first.- 



To each and all hath equal power been given, 
Alike your valour, worth, and high estate — 
On each like riches hath impartial heaven 
Dealt round, and birth of old ancestral date, — 
Comrades ! herein is each his fellow's mate, 
And hence each prince's arm might well have borne 
Rule o'er the world, nor shaken with the weight ; 
Such gracious boon, held gracelessly in scorn, 
Thus low hath stricken down and leaves us thus forlorn, 



NOTES. 39 

But ih your stalwart arms' surpassing strength 
I put my trust, and fearlessly expect 
Cure for each transient evil, — then at length 
Bestir ye all a captain to elect. 
Whose guiding power may all your force direct — 
Be this the man — whose biding frame may best 
Upbear a massive beam untired, unchecked, 
For since in lot none difFereth from the rest. 
Let strength our general choose, be strength the warrior's test. 

Note»p. 11.] 

What wild delight shall glad the tribes of Tray. 

Fera tmgedia vuol che s'appresenti. 
Per lor diporto alle nemiche genti. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. v, s. 43. 

A scene of bloodshed would he fain present, 
To charm the foe and wake their wonderment. 

Note ^^, p. 11.] Than ye far mightier. Bloody were the blue 
swords of the race of my heroes, but I am sad, forlorn, and blind, 
no more the companion of heroes. Ossian, Fingal, iv, i, 295. 

Note ^S p. 12.] And fought my bravest. I often fought and 
often won in the battle of the spear. But blind, and tearful, 
and forlorn, I walk with little men. O Fingal with thy race of 
war I behold thee not. Ossian, Fingal, iii, i, 279. 

Note 32, p. 13.] 

Yet mark my word, and in thy bosom, grave. 

Or, odi i detti miei — 

Ma gli serba nel cor — Tasso, c. xvii, s, 60, 

Hear then my words — 

And lock them in thine heart — 



40 NOTES. 

Note 33, p. 15.] 

Since death, dear mother, soon thy son must claim. 
Vid. Georg. iv, 321. 
Note 34, p. 18.] 

For Jove yestreen, by Ocean's sunny spring, 
Join'd the blest Ethiops' blameless banqueting, 

QKsavov, The Southern Ocean ; but Diodorus Sicul. B. i. says 
Tovg *Aiyv7rTiovQ Kara rrjv idiav diaXtKrov 'QKeavbv Xeytw/ tgv 
'SeXXov, 

The Egyptians in their dialect call the Nile Oceanus. 

It is to one of these entertainments that Vida, annulling at once 
the earthly claims of Diomed and the Saracens to its invention, 
assigns the introduction of chess. 

Juppiter .^thiopum sedes et Memnonis arva 

Iverat, Oceani mensas dignatus amici, 

Qui sibi turn optatis junxit Tellurem Hymenagis. 

Affuit una omnis superum chorus : omnia festo 

^quoris immensi resonabant littora plausu. 

U t dapibus compressa fames, mensaeque remotap, 

Quo superum mentes ludo mulceret inani, 

Oceanus tabulam afFerri jabet interpictam. Schacchia, 

To Memnon's bowers and realms of Ethiop race 
High Jove had gone blest Ocean's board to grace. 
Ocean his friend — who then, with festal mirth, 
His bride espoused — the ever blooming Earth — 
Jove and the heaven's full choir ; — from shore and sea 
Rung far and wide glad shouts of revelry. 
Their feasting o'er, and tables cleared away, 
The immortal guests to cheer with harmless play, 
Pastime of gods, — the banquet's blithsome lord 
Bade straight bring forth the many-checquered board. 

Note 3^, p. 18. 1 Out moorings then. Evvdg lit. "berths.' 



NOTES. 41 

** Odyss, ^. av^kovQ id est haras vocat tvvag (tvCjv." The name 
anchor does not occur in Homer, nor indeed was the use of that 
instrument known in that early age. [Wood on Homer]. Large 
stones, either with rings or holes bored in them, appear to have 
answered the purpose, and to these the Trpvjjivridict, stern-ropes, 
were fastened. Hence the phrase '' solvere funes" to get under 
weigh. The frequent sea trips which Homer's restless life neces- 
sarily entailed upon him, must have rendered him fully acquainted 
with the then simple minutiae of nautical science ; and the exact- 
ness of his descriptions testifies the attention he had paid to them. 

Note ^, p. 20.] All craving banish'd. 

Poi che de' cibi il natural amore 
Fu in lor ripresso, e I'importuna sete. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xi, s. 17. 

But when their natural craving after food 
Was all repressed, and thirst importunate. — 

Note ^, p. 21.] His beard her right. — And Joab took Amasa 
by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. 2 Sam. xx. 19. 

Note '^\ p. 22.] 

He spake — ajid darkly his black eyebrows bent : 
Then from the head of Heaven s omnipotent. 
His locks ambrosial, waving to and fro, 
Stream' d forth — and vast Olympus rocked below, 

Cosi dicendo il capo mosse : e gli ampi 
Cieli tremaro ; — 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xiii, s. 74. 

He spake and bowed his forehead down : thereat 
The broad heavens trembled. 

Annuit et totum nutu tremefecit Olympum. ^n. x, 115. 

According then his dread assent, the god 
Shook all Olympus with his sovereign nod. 



42 NOTES. 

Terrificam capitis concussit terq ; quaterq ; 
Caesariem, cum qua terrain, mare, sydera, movit. 

Ovid. Met.i, 179. 

Thrice and again his awful locks he shook, 
Earth, seas, and stars, wild reeling at his look. 

Cuncta supercilio moventis. Hor. Carm. iii, i, 8. 

Whose eyebrow sways the universe, 

]S[ote39, p. 23.] 

To probe each purpose that my thoughts devise. 

Canst thou by searching find out God ? Job, xi, 7. 

There is no searching of his understanding. Is. xl, 28. 

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
God ! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past 
finding out ! For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who 
hath been his counsellor ? Rom, xi, 33, 34, 

Note '*^, p. 24.] Uproot us. For God spared not the angels 
that sinned, but cast them down to hell. 2 Pet. ii. 4. Jude 6 ver. 



BATTLE OF THE FROGS AND MICE. 



NAMES OF THE FROGS AND MICE. 



FROGS. 

PUFF-CHOPS. 
MUD-LAKK. 
THE WATEK QUEEN or 
LADY OF THE LAKE. 
BAWLEKO. 
MUD. 
BEET. 
CROAKER. 
LAKE-LOVE. 
CHAMP-KAIL. 
POOL. 
RUSH. 

MARSH-PRIDE. 
BOG-TROT. 
GNAW-GARLICO. 
CLOD-HOPPER. 
GARLEEKO. 
HOARSE-CROAK. 



MICE. 

CRUMB-CATCH. 

CRUNCH-CRUST. 

LICK-MILLIA. 

CHAW-BACON. 

PAW-BACON. 

GNAW-BACON. 

LICK-DISH. 

POT-PRY. 

LICKERO. 

HOLE-PEEP. 

CRAM-CAKE. 

CHEESE-SCOOP. 

SNUFF-STEAM. 

SNAP-SCRAP. 

PLUMP. 

LOAF-LURK. 

TUCK-LOAF. 



BATTLE OF THE FROGS AND MICE. 

[Ex edit. Frid. August. Wolf. Halos, Saxon. 1784.] 



E la terra se scosse e I'ampio seno 
De I'oceano a suoi divini accenti, 
Ei comincio dal di che fu ripieno 
Di topi il raondo e di ranocchi spenti. 

Tassoni, Secchia Rapita, c. ii, s. 43. 

And the earth trembled, and the boundless breast 

Of ocean at his accents' heavenly tone, 

Beginning from that day, when IMice unblest 

And Frogs in death through all the world were strown. 



Awake my song ^, — and ye, sweet minstrels, won 
By holiest prayer, oh ! leave your Helicon — 
I woo ye to my heart, — and bless the strain 
Traced on the tablets that these knees sustain. 
— For wild the deeds, and fearful they record, 
— Death's iron din and war*s relentless lord, — 
Then, on the ear of nations far away. 
Thunder the tale — -how erst, in mail'd array, 
'Gainst legion*d Frogs the Mice triumphant stood. 
And shamed in might the giants' earth-born brood ~ ; 



46 BATTLE OF THE 

Ev'n as among mankind the legend ran 
From age to age — 'twas thus the feud began. 

A mouse erewhile worn down with thirst and spent, 
Scantly by claw of stem grimalkin shent, 
A neighbouring marish sought, and bath'd therein, 
Joy'd by the honied wave, his down-clad chin : 
Him straight descried the Beauty of the Lake, 
Chieftain far heralded, and thus he spake : 

'* Who art thou, friend? whence bound for this lone 
shore ? 
WTiat sire begat thee, and what mother bore ^ ? 
Tell all and truly tell, for should we find 
In thee a comrade meet and to our mind. 
Straight will we lead thee to our halls of state, 
And load our guest with costly gifts and great. 
King Puff-chops we — beside yon lake ador'd, 
For many a day, the frogs' imperial lord ! 
Mud-lark our sire — on Po's sweet margent green 
He wooed and won the tuneful Water-queen. 
Thee too we ken in mould a mouse of might, 
A sceptred king, a champion in the fight, 
Haste then thy lineage tell.'' — 

— Him answered straight 
Crumb -catch, and said, 

" Why seek my lineage, mate ? 
'Tis known to all, to men, to gods on high. 
To fowls of heaven, great Crumb-catch bight am I : 
Crunch-crust my large -soul'd sire, the nymph that bare 
(Lick-millia, king Chaw-bacon's daughter fair). 



I 



FROGS AND MICE. 47 

Bare in a safe, and fed on daintiest meat, 
Figs, nuts, and comfits, sweetest of the sweet. 
— But how be guests ? — our natures differ wide — 
Past is thy life beneath the rippling tide. 
While wont am I to nibble in a trice. 
Earth's treasured fruits, and all that man holds nice. 
Nor shuns my searching ken the wheat-loaf, made 
Of finest flour, in shapely basket laid, 
Nor spreading tartlet stor'd with juiciest jam, 
White-kirtled liver, slice of savoury ham. 
Nor freshest cheese from milk delicious prest, 
Nor honied cake, the banquets of the blest ! 
Nor aught by cooks to grace rich revels wrought, 
When with each sauce the full tureens are fraught. 
Ne'er yet from battle's withering shout I fled ^, 
But on, — and mingled where the vanmost bled : 
From man — albeit huge-limbed — I shrink not back, 
But hie to bed, his finger-ends attack, 
Or eke his toe, — meanwhile the dreamy wight 
Unharass'd sleeps, tho' tooth and nail I bite. 
But ah ! at every step I dread these twain, 
Night owl and cat — they work me mickle bane, 
And gin accurst, mthin whose tempting bait. 
Lurks darkest guile and lures me to my fate ; 
— Grimalkin most I dread, and from my soul — 
Worst plague, she nabs me worming thro* a hole. 
Radish I loathe, nor kail nor pumpkins eat. 
Nor parsley love, nor banquet on fresh beet, 
For these your dainties are beneath yon lake." — 
— Smiling hereat, in answer Pufl*-chops spake : 



48 BATTLE OF THE 

** Too belly- vaunting friend art thou, we too 
On land and lake a thousand wonders view ; 
For Jove to us a twofold being gave, 
On land to skip, and dive amid the wave. 
Wouldst thou assurance frill ? — the proof is light — 
Mount on my back, and grasp with all thy might, 
Grasp for thy life— and thus in gleeful hour 
Thy step shall pass the threshold of my bower." 

This said, his back he leant ; — sir Mouse upsprung 
With airy leap, and round his plump neck clung, 
The shore in sight, he laugh'd for very glee, 
Elate wdth Puif-chops' reckless buoyancy : 
But when the dark wave gurgled o'er his head. 
When terror wildly whispered — " hope is fled" — 
Forth gush'd the fruitless tear, he rent his hair. 
And wedged his feet with all thy strength. Despair ; 
'* Strange sight," he shriek'd, and then his heart 'gan 

reel, 
" Oh that these paws one foot of earth could feel !" 
He groan'd, he groan'd, in chilly fear's constraint, 
When lo ! a sight at which the staunchest faint, — 
Vision of dread to both ! along the lake 
Loom'd large with towering neck, a water-snake ; 
Him Puff-chops saw and plunged, nor stay'd to think 
On helpless comrade left alone to sink, 
Down the dark depths of water far beneath 
He plunged amain, and 'scap'd the night of death. 
Straight on the water fiat poor Crumb-catch falls. 
Wrings his gaunt paws, and, dro^vning, shrieks and 

squalls ; 



FROGS AND MICE. 49 

Oft down the wave he sank, and oft anon 
Struggling uprose; — but Death would not be done. 
His tail spread outward like an oar he plied 
And while, " ye gods ! oh I land me, land," he cried 
A swart wave swamp'd him ; — blustering, bluff, and stout. 
At length he spake, and thus his tongue slack 'd out : 
'* Not thus, not thus, the bull his love-freight bore. 
With fair Europa bound for Crete's far shore : 
Oh ! would to heaven that on his back, the frog 
Had ne'er up-perch'd my shivering frame — the dog !" 
Dank grew his locks, beneath their dragging weight 
He droop'd, thus muttering in the grasp of fate : 
*' Puff-chops, thy guile is registered — the shock 
That hurfd me from thee, wrecked as from a rock. — 
Caitiff ! on land I am thy better far. 
To cuff and kick, to wrestle, run, and spar ^, 
But no — ^by craft thou'st drown'd me in the deep ; 
Yet ne'er doth heaven's avenging eyeball sleep : — 
Ev'n now the embattled war-mice bless mine eye. 
Blood calls for blood, and Puff-chops' hour is nigh !" 

He spake, and gasping mid the Waters sank. 
When Lick-dish, couch'd upon the mossy bank, 
Espied his fate, and wildly wailing ran 
Fraught with the tidings to the whiskered clan. 

But when his fate they knew, from every eye 
Flash'd fiercest wrath — then rose the gathering cry, 
By hurrying heralds bruited wide, for all 
At morn to muster in Crunch-crusto*s hall : 
Sire of poor Crumb-catch he, — whose clay-cold form, 
Bleach'd by the wave and wasted by the storm, 

E 



50 BATTLE OF THE 

Nestling no more upon the bank's green pillow, 
Lay rock'd and rolling on the deep-sea billow ^. 

Red rose the dawn : — with martial clank and din 
All breathless troop'd the fiery squadrons in, 
And throng'd the place of tryst : — to them upstood 
Fierce Crunch-crust, thirsting for the murderer's blood. 
And spake ; — *' Albeit, my friends, the pangs I feel, 
Leech may not soothe, nor hand of time can heal, 
Yet deem not mine alone the cup of gall. 
Wrought by yon Frogs, one doom awaits ye all ; 
— The dregs 'tis mine to drain — for death hath torn 
From me three gallant bairns'^, the eldest born 
Did fell Grimalkin clutch — unhappy soul ! 
Heedless of death and venturing from his hole ; 
The next did heartless hinds to death entice. 
With fangled craft and den of quaint device 
Yclep'd ' a trap' — the barathron of mice. 
The third, my best beloved, his mother s joy, 
Hath PuiF-chops lur d, and drown'd my princely boy : 
Uprise ye then, and don the arms of death ^, — 
Uprise and front them on the battle-heath !" — 

He spake, — and faithful to their lord's command 
Hamess'd and helm'd by war's grim god they stand. 
With bumish'd cuishes first their thighs are graced 
Wrought of split peascods and right deftly braced ; 
Stamping whereon, through all the watch of night. 
Staunch had they toil'd, and mounch'd with all their 

might ; 
Each stout cuirass a reedy-quilted hide 
(From falln Grimalkin rent) right well supplied : 



FROGS AND MICE. 51 

Their shield — a cresset-boss, while, fierce and far, 
Bodkins of brass — huge thunderbolts of war — 
Their spear-staiFs gleam'd ; — on every brow was set 
Smooth shell of nut, a steel-proof bassenet. 

Thus stood the Mice for battle boune ; but when 
The Frogs discerned them, from their peopled fen 
Outpouring toward a singled spot they ran. 
Synod of death — and held their war divan. 
While thus debating what the riot meant, 
And whence the feud, came up a pursuivant. 
Baton in hand ; Pot-pry the envoy's name, 
August Cheese-scoopo's son — full fraught he came 
With words of death : — 

*' Your wrath the Mice defy. 
Assembled Frogs ! their herald, lo ! am I. 
Then harness ye for fight, — for on the main. 
These eyes beheld the noble Crumb-catch slain 
By PufF-chops, traitor king : — then forth and fight, 
All ye the fiercest of the Frogs in might." 

His parle he ended : — at the haughty word 
Tingled all ears, and every breast was stirr'd. 
Ay — the stout Frogs were stricken : when their king 
Uprose and spake, amid their murmuring : 
^' His death I wrought not, friends, nor, when he sank, 
Did I behold him, — from the grassy bank 
Springing unseen he met his righteous fate, 
— A floating frog he fain must imitate — ! 
Guiltless albeit, and from the crime most free, 
Me — they impeach, and cry revenge on — Me, 

E 2 



52 BATTLE OF THE 

Brawlers accurst ! then weave we deep device, 

Foil trick mth trick, and crush the traitor-mice. 

But heed my words, for, as beseemeth best, 

These lips shall speak, ay, heed your chiefs behest ; 

Don we our mail of proof, and all take post 

On land's last brink, where shelves sheer down the 

coast. 
When on our ranks with onslaught -^dld they burst. 
Grasp each his helmet whom you grapple first, 
And fling amid the waves ; then far below, 
* Full fathom five,' fast lock in death the foe. 
Unbuoyant herd ! one plunge "v^ill them suffice. 
One hearty plunge — then forth and in a trice 
Baise we our trophy o'er the slaughtered Mice." 

He spake, and all forthmth were arm'd ; the greaves 
That sheathed their shuis were ^vr ought of mallow- 
leaves ; 
Of fresh ^^dde beet they wore their shirts of mail, 
Their targets— fashion' d from the leaves of kail. 
For lengthy lance a keen-tipt reed served well. 
Fenced was each brow — ^its helm a cockle-shell : 
Thus arm'd, along the towery cliffs they stood. 
Shook their sharp spears and thirsted deep for blood. 

But Jove, meanwhile, amid the starry skies 
Convened the gods, and set before their eyes 
The murderous mass of war — the warriors fierce, 
A mjTiad host, and arm'd mth mighty spears, — 
(Not such their numbers, nor the host so dread, 
By Centaur-chief or earthborn giant led^,) 
Then smiling spake : — 



II 



FROGS AND MICE. 53 

'' Who lends immortal aid 
To Frogs or Mice ? — I ween, my blue-eyed maid, 
For daily service in thy temple paid, 
Thou to the Mice — there one and all they skip, 
Snuif the rich steam, and wet the whiskered lip^^." 

Satumius ceas'd: to whom his child: — " my sire, 
Tho' death o'ertake them, and tho' labour tire, 
Yon Mice I ne'er will aid — my wealth they spoil, 
Rend my fair wreaths, and rob my lamps for oil. 
But mark the deed that most distracts my soul — 
Gnaw'd have the thieves and drilled with many a hole 
That robe, my daily task, my nightly care, 
Wov'n of thin woof and threads more light than air ; 
While hourly, thus on miseries miseries mount, 
Comes Botch and duns me for his small account. 
Hence am I wroth — for, while I wove away, 
On tick I went, — and now have nought to pay. — 
Yet deem not thus the Frogs shall boast mine aid, 
Weak are their souls, unprincipled, unstaid, 
For when, with battling bruised and worn with toil, 
I woo'd the balm of sleep, — their wild turmoil 
Scared every wink — with aching brows I lay. 
And toss'd till Chanty piped the dawn of day. 
Then cease we, gods, yon ruffians to assist, 
Lest " one of us" fly wounded from the list. 
For keen their brands, tho' gods their passage bar, — 
Then cease we all, and watch from heaven the, war." 

She spake : the gods obey'd, and tarrying hot, 
Throng'd in a body to the appointed spot. 



54 BATTLE OF THE 

Forthwith from out the death-trump's thrilling throat, 
Twang'd the smart gnats and peal'd the^battle note ; 
While heaven's Arch-ruler, from the clouds afar, 
Thunder'd amain and ilash'd the sign of war ^i". 

Lickero first, far flaming in the van. 
Smote Croaker, night upon the spear-point ran. 
Thro' yawning paunch, and wounded midriff thrust, 
Headlong he fell, and darkened in the dust 
His downy crest — he fell with dismal clang ; 
Loud on his corse his slackened harness rang. 
Next did bold Hole-peep wound the son of Mud, 
Fix'd in his breast the sturdy spear-staif stood : 
He fell — death's iron bonds the chief enchain'd ; 
Forth flew the soul i-, the clay-cold limbs remain'd. 
Then thro' poor Pot-pry drove sir Beet his dart. 
Thro' Beet great Tuck-loaf, swoln with rage at heart ; 
Then prince Bawlero thro' mid-paunch he cleft. 
Prone fell the chief, the soul his carcase left. 
But when fair Lake-love spied Bawlero's fate, 
He battered Hole-peep with a millstone's weight 
Full on the neck — dim shades his eyeballs seal ; 
Then at the slayer with his glittering steel 
Lickero aim'd, the steel his life-blood drank ; 
The which when Champ-kail vision'd, from the bank 
He sprang, and sought the shrouding waves, — in vain ! 
Lickero smites, he falls nor breathes again ; 
Red roll the waves in blood, his outstretch'd form 
Pants on the beach all bleeding fresh and warm. 
Then on the bank did Pool^^ poor Cheese-scoop smite, 
Then Rush Paw-bacon eyed, and winged his flight 



FROGS AND MICE. 55 

Toward the blue lake, sans sense, sans shield he fled, 
But Marsh-pride smote Gnaw-bacon on the head. 
Ill-fortuned king I fierce dash'd the stone — his brain 
Stream'd from his nose, and dyed with blood the plain. 
Then by brave Bog- trot bit sir Plump the dust ; 
But Lick-dish straight his spear through Bog-trot 

thrust. 
Night seal'd his eyelids : then, with desperate clench, 
SnufF-steam — thy foot did grim Gnaw-garlic wrench, 
Dragg'd to the pool, there diving far beneath. 
Choked thee fast fettered in the grasp of death. 
Next Crumb-catch, battling for his slaughtered friends. 
His spear-point sheer thro' grim Gnaw-garlic sends. 
Unlet it probes his rent heart's inmost core. 
Forward he falls, his soul seeks death's dark shore. 
Clod-hopper spied him, and a lump of dung 
Presenting straight betwixt his eyeballs flung, 
Half blind seized Crumb-catch, gored with wrath and pain, 
A monstrous stone, the burden of the plain. 
And smote therewith Clod-hopper's knee — to wrack 
Went the right thigh, he tumbled on his back : 
Hoarse-croak, his friend to shield, 'gainst Crumb-catch 

flew; 
The sharpened rush-reed pierced his navel thro'. 
And delved deep deep within ; — ^he hauls it out, 
Forth thro' the rent his gushing entrails spout. 
This Cram-cake sees from off" the river-bank, 
And halts from fight, his brow looks sorely blank, 
Then leaps the fosse from death's fierce grasp to steal : 
— Next Crunch-crust wounds sir Puff-chops on the heel ; 



56 BATTLE OF THE 

With anguish maddened to the lake he flies, — 
But when his panting frame Garleeko eyes, 
Vanward he bursts, and hurls his whetted reed : 
Stout stands the shield, and bars his spear-point's speed. 

Supreme amid the Mouse clan was there one. 
Palm of the host, the faultless Loaf-lurk's son : 
A very Mars he flam'd, and Snap-scrap hight, 
Prince of the Mice, their champion in the fight ! 
Full of fierce thoughts beside the lake he stood, 
And doom'd destruction on the Frogs' fell brood, 
Doom'd — -and had well-nigh wrought, his might so vast, 
When Parent-Jove liis eye all-seeing cast 
Full on the fainting Frogs, and, touch' d with ruth, 
Bow'd his dark brow and spake the word of truth : 

" Woe worth the day ! at yonder sickening sight 
Ye gods ! I faint, my spirit faints with fright ^^. 
Mark where stark Snap -scrap stands beside yon stream, 
How the Frogs tremble, as his eyeballs gleam ! 
Hence then let Pallas and the war god wend, 
Hence — and from fight this stalwart champion rend." 
Thus spake the son of Saturn : at the v>^ord 
Mars straight replied, " My father and my lord, 
Vain were Athena's might, mine own how vain, 
From death to ward the Frogs' devoted train : 
Forth to the rescue — all ! the bolts of death, 
— That quell'd the Titans with their fiery breath, 
That dash'd to earth the gaunt Enceladus, 
And earth's grim race i^, — perchance will wake for us, 
Then shall the stoutest fall! i^" thus spake the god — 
And Jove straight lanch'd the levin-bolt abroad : 



n 



FROGS AND MICE. 57 

Loud roar'd the pealing thunder, at the shock 

Olympus reel'd, and bow'd his marble rock. 

Torth flew the levin, Jove's appalling brand, 

riame-wing'd and eddying from his red right hand. 

Fear walk'd the world, along each serried rank 

All hearts throbbed wildly, and each cheek grew blank. 

Still nought the Mice recoil'd, but hardier yet 

On the doom'd Frogs with gather' d wrath had set, 

When Jove, in pity for their lost estate, 

Sent a strange plague, that snatch'd them from their 

fate. 
They came, unseen, their backs like anvils strong, 
Curv'd, crook'd, and tortuous, sidled they along: 
Hook'd were their beaks, their mouths stout pincers 

plied : 
Bony their flesh, and wrought of shells their hide ; 
From their broad shoulders shot Avild flashes out. 
Bandied their shanks, their paws steel-nerved and stout : 
Eyed in their breasts, upon eight feet they crawl, — 
Twain were their heads, and handless were they all ; 
By men hight ** crabs :" — they charged, and in a trice 
Tweak'd by their tails their hands and feet the Mice ; 
Down went each ported spear, in withering dread 
The pale Mice halted, trembled, turn'd, and fled ^7 ! 
Ay ! the Mice fled — and at the set of sun 
'Twas silence all, — their one day war was done ^^. 



NOTES 



BATTLE OF THE FROGS AND MICE. 



Note^, p. 45.J Awake my song. 

Musa, tu che cantasti i fatti egregi 
Del Re de Topi e de le Kane antiche. 
Si che ne sono ancor fioriti e fregi 
La per le piagge d'Elicona apriche. 

Tassoni Secchia Kapita, c. v, s. 23> 

Muse, who didst sing the wondrous exploits done 
By the stout king of Mice, and Frogs of yore. 
Whence mid the sunny lawns of Helicon 
Still fresh they bloom, and deckt with flowerets o'er.— 

Note2, p. 45.] 

And shamed in might the giant's earth-born brood» 

Non tantos motus, nee tarn memorabile bellum,' 
Masonius quondam sublimi carmine vates 
Lusit ; ubi totam strepituque armisque paludem 
Miscuit : hie (visu miserabile !) corpora murura 



60 



Sparsa jacent juncis transfixa, hie gutture rauco 
Rana dolet, pedibusque abscisso poplite ternis 
Reptat humi, solitis nee sese saltibus eftert. 

Addison, HYrMAIO-rEPANOMAXIA, 46. 

Not such the rout, not sueh the immortal fray, 
Erst by the bard portray'd in loftiest lay, 
Maeonia's bard — when all the fen's fierce swarms 
He stirr'd with tumult and the bray of arms. 
Here, woeful sight, with reeds thrust thro' and thro' 
Vast forms of Mice the encumbered plains o'erstrew ; 
There, with hoarse throat, the Frog bewaileth sore — 
Dcom'd to three feet, quadrupedal no more : 
Shorn of one leg, along the ground he creeps 
Slow — nor essays henceforth his wonted leaps. 

Note3, p. 46.] 

IVhat sire begat thee, and what mother bore ? 

Justice. What is thy name 1 

Son, My name's Tom Jenkins, alias I have none 
Tho' orphan'd and without a friend — 

Justice, Thy parents 1 

Son, My father dwelt in Rochester — and was. 
As I have heard, — a fishmonger — no more. 

Critic, act. iii, s. 1. 

Note ^ p. 47.] 

Ne^er yet from battle's withering shout I fled. 
Son of the sea, I never fled. Ossian, Carthon, vol. i, p. 90. 

Note 5, p. 49.] 

Caitiff I on land I am thy better far, 

To cuff and kick, to wrestle, run, and spar. 



NOTES. 61 

So king Creillus, in the Galeomyomachia, describes himself as a 
knight, sans tache, sans peur. 

ovK iOsXrjaa ^riv rbv clttovov jSioi^, 157. k. t. X. 

No sluggard life was mine — my sole delight 
Hath been to mingle with the men of might, 
Ev'n from a boy — the lance, glaive, targe to wield, 
Mount the fleet car, and thread the battle-field, 
The foe to smite with timely stroke and stout, 
Draw the tough bow and lanch the death shaft out ; — 
In one short word, to learn — hath been mine aim — 
All feats of war, as warrior best became. 

Note 6, p. 50.] 

Lay rock'd and rolling on the deep-sea billow. 

Beside some fen shall his tomb be seen ; it shall rest without a 
song. His ghost shall hover in mist over the reedy pool. 

Ossian, Tem. vol. ii, p. 107. 
Note^ p. 50.] 

For death hath torn 
From me three gallant bairns. 

So king Sheep's-eye (KptiXKog) in the Cat-and-Frog-fight. 
Kal yap 7rp6 Kaipov tyjv hfiriv Ovyarspa. 1. 34. k. r. X. 

Yes, all untimely, in her spring of youth, 
My daughter fair, my loved Lick-Lamp-a-tooth 
Woe worth the day ! did curst Grimalkin paw 
Before these eyes. 

Loquitur Chip-cheese, I too have felt her claw : 
Pride of my heart, my gentlest Gibletine, 
She clutch'd, and Eat-Wheat, that brave boy of mine, 
Her death-shriek heard — nought lingering — undism.ay'd — 
He rush'd to avenge his slaughtered sister's shade. 



62 



NOTES. 



Notes p. 50.] 

Uprise ye then, and don the arms of death, 

TOIVVV KSXSVIO TOVQ SflOL TTe^lXfJiSVOVQ. 

Galeomyomach. 173, k:. r. X. 

Heed then my call, my liegemen dear ye are, 

Up one and all, and throng the files of war. 

With skill, with vengeance, valour, strength, go forth 

Full arm'd — '' let gentle blood shew generous worth." 

Arise to battle, my thousands 1 pour round me like the echoing 
main. Gather round the bright steel of your king : stiong as the 
rocks of my land ; that meet the storm with joy ; and stretch their 
dark pines to the wind. Ossian, Fingal, b. i. 

Exalt, ye sons of Erin, exalt the spear, and bend the bow : rush 
on the foe in darkness, as the spirits of stormy nights ! 

Ossian, Fingal, b. ii. 

Note S p. 52.] 

By Centaur -chief or earth-born giant led. 

Not such the numbers, nor the host so dread. 
By Northern Brenn or Scythian Timur led. 

Heber's Palestine. 

Note 10, p. 53,] 

Snuff the rich steam and wet the whiskered lip. 

In accordance with this, Sheep's-eye's threat to Jupiter, in the 
Cat-and-^Iouse Eight, savoureth somewhat of pot valour. 

WQ eiTTsp 6v OriGsi ps viKr]Tr}v fdeyav, 104, k. t. A. 

Hear then, O Jove, the oath I swear, — if thou 
Eail at my feet to make all nations bow. 
Fail but to crest my war-plume, battle-tost. 
With victory's wreath — thou failest to thy cost : 



NOTESo 63 

No stop, no stay, — thy victim-steaming cell 
I force, — and feed this godlike belly well. 

Note 1^ p. 54.] 

Thunder' d amain and flashed the sign of war. 

oydsTTOT avTolg 
'ApyaXkov TroXsfiov TSKfiaipsrai evpvoTra Zevg. 

Hesiod. Opera et Dies. lib. i, 226. 

Ne'er unto them doth Jove, all-seeing god. 
Hang the fierce signs of wasting war abroad. 

Note ^^ p. 54.] Forth flew the souL 

Dark clouds come o'er my eyes, farewell, good night: 
Good night— my mighty soul's inclined to roam. 
So make my compliments to all at home. 

Bomb. Furioso. 

Note ^^, p. 54.] Then on the bank did Pool, 

Captain. Yes Poole. 

Sitffolk. Poole '? 

Captain, Poole? sir Poole ? lord [Poole] 1 

Ay, kennel, puddle, sink ; whose filth and dirt 
Troubles the silver spring where England drinks. 
Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth. 
For swallowing the treasure of the realm. 

Henry Sixth, Part ii, act. iv, s. 1. 

Note ^\ p. 56.] 

Ye gods! I faint, my spirit faints with fright. 

Oh ! shuddering fancy quails beneath the scene. 

Erving Scott's^ Waterloo. 

Note '■^, p. 56.] And earth's grim race. 

Talis erat belli facies, cum Pelion ingens 
Mitteret in coeliim Briareus, solioque Tonantem 



64 



PraBcipitem excuteret ; sparguntur in aethere toto 
Fulminaque scopulique : flagrantia tela deorsum 
Torquentur Jovis acta manu, dum vasta gigantum, 
Corpora fusa jacent, semiustaque sulphure fumant. 

Addison, niTMAIO-rEPANOMAXIA, 132. 

Such war's fierce front, when erst Briareus sought 
To heave huge Pelion into heaven, and thought 
To thrust the Thunderer from his throne on high ; 
Bolts and red rocks are vollied thro' the sky, 
Lanch'd from Jove's hand the writhen fire-shafts fly : 
While the vast giants, blasted by the stroke. 
Bite the black dust, and sear'd with sulphur smoke. 

ovd' dp' tTi TaEvq Idx^v abv fi^voQ, k. r. X. 

Hesiod. Theog. 687, 
Jove curb'd his might no longer, but at length 
Dilate, did all his soul wax full of strength, 
And his whole power brake out, — forth moved the god 
From heaven's bright hill, and lightened as he trod 
Unceasingly : — fast from his stout right hand 
Flew the fork'd bolts, by eddying whirlwinds fann'd. 
From the rich earth the roar of burning came. 
And the deep forest crash'd beneath the flame. 
Yea, the whole earth boil'd up — the ocean's stream 
And wide waste sea, — while clouds of scorching steam 
Wrapp'd round the earthy Titans, — thro' the sky 
Career'd a sheet of fire, and every eye, 
Albeit of forms that nought till now could scare, 
Quail'd and grew dim before that blasting glare- 
Combustion seized on chaos; — heard ye then 
With mortal ear, or viewed with mortal ken, 
It would have seemed as heaven and earth were dash'd 
In one, — with din so terrible they clash'd, — 
Heaven downward plunged, and earth in air uprent : 
Thus roar'd the shock of gods in fiery hosting blent. 

See too the sixth Book of Parad. Lost, and Dante's Inferno, c. 31. 



NOTES. 65 

Note ^^ p. 56.] Then shall the stoutest fall. 
Then shall the mighty tremble, the spear shall fall from the 
hand of the valiant. Ossian, Temora, b. i. 
Note l^ p. 57.] 

The pale mice halted, trembled, turn'd, and fled. 

The mice would appear to have experienced, in some former cam- 
paigns, the fatal chance of war. 

ovK oiaOa ttwq Trpiv GvvicrijJVTeQ rbv fioOov. 

Galeomyomach. 71. k. r. \. 

Chip- Cheese loquitur. What? know' st thou not, on wounds 
and slaughter bent, 
To front the Cats' and Frogs' fell armament, 
What clouds of friends we gathered? — Know'st thou not — 

Sheep's Eye. Full well I know the terrors of our lot : 

Friends, kinsmen, comrades, sons and sires, all fell, — 
Scarce we ourselves escaped the harrowing tale to tell. 

Note^s, p. 57.] 

'Twas silence all, their one day war was done. 

What midnight darkness does invade the day. 
And snatch the victor from his conquered prey ? 
Is the sun weary of this bloody fight. 
And winks upon us with the eye of light ? 
'Tis an eclipse ! this was unkind, oh ! moon. 
To clap between them and the sun so soon ; 
Foolish eclipse ! thou this in vain hast done ; 
Their brighter honour had eclipsed the sun, 
And now behold eclipses two in one. 

Rehearsal, act v. 



HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO 



[Ex edit. Frid. August. Wolf. Halai Saxon. 1784.] 



Of him my soul, of him my song shall tell, 

Bowyer Apollo, at whose coming quake 

The gods in Jove's Olympian dome that dwell, 

And at his presence fit obeisance make 

Uprising from their golden thrones, when he 

Bends with his strong right hand the bow of majesty. 



Alone beside the flash- delighting king 

Latona sits, her hands the bowstring slack. 

Then — lock'd the quiver — straight doth she un sling 

The arms of glory from his mighty back. 

And to the pillar'd shaft, his father's own, 

Hangs on gold nail aloft ; and leads him to his throne. 



68 HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO. 

For him in golden cup the ahnighty one 
Bright nectar pours, and gives the draught to drain^ 
Betokening thus his well-beloved son ; 
Hereat the gods resume their thrones again ; 
Then, holy Leto, laughs thy soul for joy, 
That thou heaven s Archer-king hast borne, thy gallant 
boy. 

Hail ! queen thrice blest, all hail ! for thou hast been 

Mother of children beautiful and fair. 

Of bright Apollo and the shaft-joy 'd queen, 

Her on Ortygia whilom didst thou bear, 

Him on cragg'd Delos i, lapp'd on Cynthus* mount, 

Fast by the palm that shades Inopus' river-fount -. 



But how, great lord of song, thy glories sing ! — 
Mark of all nature's minstrelsy ^, — for all 
Earth's grassy mainlands and gemm'd islets ring 
Thy praise, each beacon-hill and foreland tall. 
And seaward hurrying streams, and cliffs that sleep 
On the salt wave, and all the havens of the deep. 



Sing we how Leto thee, the pride of man, 
On Cynthus couch'd, in Delos' rocky isle, 
Bare, her firstborn ! — and how encircling ran 
The blue wave o'er its pebbly beach the while 
Curl'd by the gusty breeze ; — forth starting thence 
O'er far-off nations stretch'd thy vast omnipotence. 



HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO. 69 

All who in Crete and peopled Athens breathe, 

Bark-famed Euboea, fair ^gina's isle, 

Peiresiae, Mgas, sea-shore Peparethe, 

And Thracian Athos, Pelion's towery pile, 

Samos, and Ida dark with many a tree, 

Phocaea, Scyros, and the height of huge Autocane ; 

O'er churlish Lemnos, Imbros* shapely piles, 

Lesbos divine, -^olian Macar's bower, 

And Chios, loveliest of the ocean-isles, 

CliiF-cinctured Mimas, Corycus' vast tower, 

^sageae's mount, and Claros' bathed in light, [height : 

Samos wave-wash'd, and Mycale with many a mountain 

Miletus, Coos, old Meropian town. 

And wind-swept Carpathus and Cnidus tall, 

Naxos, and Paros, and Rhenaia's crown 

Of crags, — thus far ranged Leto and o'er all 

Womb'd with the Archer came, if haply one 

A refuge would vouchsafe, delighting in her son. 

But they were stricken with alarm, nor vouch'd 

The god a home, tho' each with fulness blest. 

Ere at famed Delos holy Leto touch' d, 

And thus with winged words the isle addressed : 

" Delos, if thou no chosen place of rest. 

Nor odorous temple to my son wilt grant. 

Sink shall thy name unloved and uncarest. 

Thy fat kine perish, and thy flocks grow scant, 

Wild winds thy vintage waste and wither every plant. 



70 HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO. 

But if thou hold the Archer's wreathed fane, — 
To thee shall all men lead rich hecatombs, 
Thronging thy shores, and ceaseless victims slain 
O'er thine high places roll their fragrant fumes. 
And this — if thou wilt nurse on thy domain 
My princely infant ; so shall heaven's high hand 
Fence thee from pirate-foe — a blest tho' barren land. 

She said : the island joy'd, and answering spake : 
" Leto, the mighty Caeus' noblest child, 
Unto my breast will I with gladness take 
Thy son, the Bowyer-king, for sore reviled 
Am I by man, but thus, methinks, shall I 
Gain glory upon earth, ay, glory passing high ! — 

Yet, Leto, hence am I with dread imbued, 
Nor will I cloak it from thee, for they say 
That fierce Apollo in his angry mood 
Will on the immortals his harsh bidding lay, 
And, o'er the boon earth scatter'd widely, bind 
With his imperious sway the races of mankind. 

But from mine inmost soul this dread I most. 

Lest, when he catch the sunlight^s earliest shine, 

He spurn mine isle, since rugged is my coast, 

And thrust me down amid the deep sea brine ; 

Then, leaving me by winds and whirlpools tost, 

Seek out some other country, that may please 

His soul, and plant thereon a shrine and bowery trees. 



HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO. 71 

While I must hold, by man untenanted, 

The chambering polypus, the sea-calves' lair. — 

Thou then, O goddess, swear the oath of dread, 

That here thy son a temple passing fair 

Shall fashion first, a cell of augury 

To all mankind, for manifold shall his proud titles be." 

This said, the gods' great oath Latona spake, 

** Let earth bear witness — heaven's wide cope — attest — 

And the dull tide of Styx' slow-creeping lake, 

That awful oath, most binding to the blest. 

His odorous altar and choice grove, in thee 

Shall Phoebus plant, and bless thine isle surpassingly." 

Her oath she ended : in the babe divine 
Joy'd holy Delos with exceeding joy ; 
But Leto full nine days, and nights full nine, 
Worn by sore travail bare the Archer-boy. 
Each goddess then, the noblest of heaven's line. 
Stood by her side, Dione, Rhea bright, 
Ichnaean Themis too, and howling Amphitrite. 

And all save white-ann'd Juno. She the while 
Sate in the halls of cloud-compeller Jove. 
Lone too Lucina, thro' the queen s deep guile, 
And veil'd by cloud of gold, heaven's hill above, 
Sate, — by fierce Juno's sleepless envy won, , 
At bright- tress'd Leto doom'd to bear that brave and 
blameless son. 



7^ HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO. 

Then from their beauteous isle the goddess-throng 

Sent Iris forth, to implore Lucina's aid, 

And pledged her a fair braid nine cubits long, 

With golden threads entwined, but strictly bade 

That Iris call, from Juno's ken afar, 

Lucina forth, lest she by word her coming bar. 

Swift Iris heard, and boune for flight withal. 
Clave the mid air, and clomb the Olympian crest, — 
Seat of the gods — then bade from out the hall 
Lucina, and with winged words address'd ; 
Telling of heaven's fair dwellers' high command. 
Nor long did her sweet soul persuasion's voice with- 
stand. 

Straight like two fluttering ring-doves fared they forth. 
When, just as kindly Delos welcomed them, 
O'er her came travail and the pangs of birth, 
Her arms then link'd she round a palm-tree stem. 
And knelt on the soft meadow-grass : glad Earth 
Smiled underneath, then sprang the heavenly boy 
Forth to the light, and all the powers loud shouted in 
their joy. 

Then did pure hands thee, Bowyer Phoebus, bathe 
In the fair stream, and wrap in snowy fold, 
Weblike, fresh shorn, — and gird in golden swathe : 
Nor yet did Themis from thy lips withhold 
Rich nectar, and the ambrosia's rapturous breath, — 
Thy stainless lips, lord of the brand of gold. 



HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO. 73 

From Leto's breast unfed ; — then laugh'd with glee 
Her soul, in that bright babe her Archer-boy to see. 



Vain thought ! that strove in golden swathe to chain 

That heaving chest, on fare immortal fed, — 

Knapt were the withes, the babe-clothes rent in twain ; 

Forthwith then Phoebus to the immortals said, 

" Mine be the lyre beloved, the bended bow. 

And mine to mortal man Jove's faithful will to show." 



This said, along the earth's broad paths he strode, 
God of the locks unshorn ! — strange thoughts gan move 
The immortals ; — then with gold far Delos glow'd 
Eyeing the son of Leto and of Jove, 
And glorying that the god for his abode 
Her isle had cull'd, and guerdon'd with his love 
Above all lands ; then brake she forth in flower. 
Like some tall hill-top crown'd with many a woodland 
bower. 



Lord of the silver bow ! far-darting king I — 
Whose footstep now o'er rugged Cynthus roams, 
Now thro' far isles and nations wandering. 
Thine are a thousand groves, a thousand domies. 
Each watch-tower thine, and thine the forelands tall. 
Thine the high hills, and streams that into ocean fall. 



74 HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO. 

Yet to thy heart is Delos far more dear. 
Whose shores the sweepy-train'd lonians haimt, 
— They and their wives and little ones — to cheer 
With cestus-play, and dance, and holy chaunt 
Thy name, and there the merry pageant rear. 
Fain would he cry, that chanced that throng behold, 
" Lo ! an immortal race — a race that grows not old !- 



Thrice joyous sight ! unbounded and untold — 

Of sire and son, pure matron and fair maid, 

Of navies fleet, of treasures manifold. 

And of that choir w^hose glory ne'er shall fade, 

Daughters of Delos, — ^handmaids of their king — 

The Archer-god, whose praise before all gods they sing. 



To Leto next, and shaft -joy'd Dian, then 

Telling of that high race of olden time. 

Sweet hymns they chaunt, and thrill the tribes of men. — 

So deftly they the voice and mellow chime 

Of each one imitate, that all would say [the lay. 

'* 'Tis he himself that speaks" — thus tempers truth 



Hail then ! — my song, Apollo, Dian, grace, 
Ye too, all hail ! and in the days to come 
Forget me not, when one of earthly race, 
A worn wayfarer, reach your island-home> 



HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO. /5 

And ask, ** sweet maids, of all that hither roam 
Whom love ye best — your prince of minestrelles ?*' — 
Then with one voice make answer, — "Ask ye whom? — 
" 'Tis the blind bard on Scio's rock that dwells, 
'Tis he whose sweetest song henceforth all song ex- 
cells 4." 

But we throughout the wide world journeying long. 

Haunts of mankind, thro' mart, and marbled town, 

Will bear abroad thy glory — for our song 

All ears shall hear, all hearts the truth shall own : 

Then hymn we Archer Phoebus evermore, 

Lord of the silver bow, whom bright-tress 'd Leto bore. 



NOTES 

TO THE 

HYMN TO THE DELIAN APOLLO. 



NoteS p. 68.] Him on cragg'd Delos. 

Ktivrj S' rjVffioeaaa Kai drpocpog, old l9' clXittXtj^, 
ai9viyQ Kai fxaXKov eTridpOfiog rjSTrep 'iTTTroig, 

TTOVTi^ EVSffTrjptKTaL' 6 ^ a/X0t € WOvXvg e\i(T(T(jJV, 

'iKapiov iroWi^v aTrofjLCKJCTaTai vdarog dxvrfv. 

Callimachus Hymn. Del. Ed. Blomfield. 

Lashed by the wave and many a wintry storm, 
The lonely isle uprears her rock-built form : 
Scant pasture hers, — across those hills of blue. 
Strange to the war-steed, flits the wild sea-mew. 
Based in the deep she braves the girdling tide, 
And proudly flings the Icarian foam aside. 

Note 2, p. 68.] 

Lapped on Cynthus' mount, 
Fast by the palm that shades Inopus' riier-fount. 

ri d' av ArjTut dXrjg aTmravaaro Xvyp^ig' 

S^ETO d' 'IVOJTTOXO TZapOL pOOV, OVTE (3d9t(TTOV 

yala tot k^avirjaiv ore ttXtjOovti pEsOptj 
NeTXof aTTo KprjfivoXo KarkpxErai ' AiQiott r]og . 

Callimachus Hymn : Del 



to NOTES. 

Then from her long and bitter wandering 
Relieved, sat Leto by Inopus' spring, 
Whose gushing flow most bountiful and deep 
Earth sends aloft, when Nile, with swelling sweep, 
Comes down, rejoicing, from his Ethiop- steep. 

Lycophron it may be observed gives his voice in favour of this 
grand junction of the rivers. 

KvvOiav 0(701 aKOTTijv 
MifivovTsg rfkcLGKOvaiv 'ivioirov ttsXciq, 

AlyVITTlOV To'iTUJVOQ 'iXKOVTOQ TTOTOV 

Cassand. p. 27. ed. Canter. 

"Whoso in their weary way 
To the Cynthian hill-side stray, 
Rest them at Inopus' brink, 
Wont the draughts of Nile to drink. 

Note 3, p. 68.] 

Mark of all nature's mhistrelsy. 

En ! patet in laudes area lata tuas. 

Ovid. Trist. iv, 3, 84. 

Vid. Ilgen's note on pofiol ad loc. 
NoteSp. 71.] 

'Tis he whose sweetest song henceforth all song excels. 

Be thou near to learn the song future times shall hear of me. 
The sons of the feeble hereafter will lift the voice on Cona and, 
looking up to the rocks, say, " Here Ossian dwelt." 

Ossian, War of Caros, vol. i, 165. 



fi 



BACCHUS, OR THE ROVERS. 



Of Bacchus will I sing, the son of noble Semele, — 

How once beside the waters of the wide and desert sea 

Up on a foreland's breezy slope he sunn'd himself; in 
sooth 

Like to a stripling did he seem in just the dawn of youth. 

And waving round his forehead fair the jet black locks 
stream'd out, [stout ; 

And a vest of crimson grain he bare upon his shoulders 

Then swiftly o'er the deep blue wave a well-trimm'd 
galley swept, 

And Tuscan rovers were the crew, — their course mis- 
chance had kept. 

They see him, — to their shipmates nod, and lightly leap 
ashore, 

Then seizing straight aboard their bark with a hearty 
cheer they bore. 

For him they deem'd at least the son of some Jove- 
nourish' d king, [ing ! 

And sought forsooth in bonds to bind of mortal fashion- 
But him their stout gyves fettered not, and from his 
hands and feet 

Fell off the withes ; then sat he down, his dark eye 
smilinof sweet. 



80 BACCHUS, OR THE ROVERS. 

This seen, the master to his mates cried out, and thus 

did say, 
" Fools that we are, what god have we thus bound and 

borne away ? 
The gallant bark can hold him not, for either Jove is he, 
Or silver-bow'd Apollo, or the ruler of the sea. 
Look on that form, and is it, say, like one of earthly 

mould ? — 
Oh ! no, 'tis beautiful as theirs whom heaven's high 

places hold. 
Unhand him then, my lads, and land on yonder shadowy 

shore. 
Lest in his vn-ath a storm he rouse, and wake the vdld 

winds' roar." 

He said : — with churlish taunt and foul, the rough old 

captain cries, 
*' Peace, idler, peace, thy prating cease — and trust for 

once thine eyes ; 
The wind's right aft, then trim the craft, set all your 

canvass square. 
Strain stick and spar — this youngster here shall be my 

fellows' care ^ ; 
He'll reach the Nile I reckon, or his foot on Cyprus set. 
Or see the highland north-men, or the men more 

northward yet ; — 
— His kinsmen who, and what his wealth, at last I ween 

he'll tell, 
And who his father's sons may be — we'll use our god- 
send well !" 



BACCHUS, OR THE ROVERS. 81 

He said, and haul'd the mast on end, and up the white 

sail sent ; 
The bellying canvass caught the breeze, on — carrying 

all — they went : [anon 

Then chanced to them a startling sight ; — a fragrant rill 
Of wine brake freshly out, and thro' the black bark 

rippled on, 
Sweet-breathing, ay, more sweet than ev'n ambrosia's 

self the scent — 
While mute amaze the seamen seized, and strange 

bewilderment. 
Along the topsail-yard forthwith a vine stretch'd to 

and fro. 
And from the rocking tendrils hung ripe clustered 

grapes below. 
The mast meanwhile dark ivy-shoots with bloom fresh- 
flowering sheath'd. 
Bright rose the fruit thereon, and all the ports ^ ^th 

sprays were wreath'd. 
They saw, and to the master cried, " Medeides run for 

shore." [roar, 

But straight the god a lion ^ grew, and gave a mighty 
Aloft on 2)oop and forecastle — stern ramping ; — then he 

wrought 
Down in the waist a shag-neck'd bear, with fearful 

wonder fraught : 
Upstood the bear with hungry howl ; — on> bulwark, 

thwart, and hatch, 
With eyes that glared right fearfully, the lion kept close 

watch ; 

G 



82 BACCHUS, OR THE ROVERS. 

Aft run all hands for very dread, and round the master 

crowd, 
For still his soul wax'd stout and strong, while they 

with fear were how'd. 

Forth springing then the lion seized their captain ; — 

overboard, 
Shunning the bloody grasp of death, they leaped with 

one accord. 
Amid the sea, — and straight were chang'd to dolphins, 

pitying then 
He touch'd the master, making him the happiest among 

men. 
And blithely spake, " cheer up, cheer up, thine heart, old 

shipmate mine. 
For dear art thou unto my soul, and I'm the god of 

wine! 
Ay, Bacchus, roaring Bacchus, I — whom erst my mother 

bare, 
The bright Cadmeian Semele ^, Jove's best beloved fair. 

Hail ! child of rosy Semele ^ !---for how shall bard essay. 
Forgetting thee, to wake the lute or dulcet round- 
elay ! 



NOTES 



BACCHUS, OR THE ROVERS. 



Note *, p. 80.] This youngster here shall be my fellows* care, 
avdp€(T(Tt ixeXrjarei, my men at arm.s, thus clearly marking the differ- 
ence between the fighting and sailing crew. 

Note ', p. 81.] And all the ports with sprays were wreathed. 
aKaXfioi, pins to which the oars were lashed. 

Note 3, p. 81.] 

But straight the god a lion grew and gave a mighty roar, 

(pdvrjOi ravpoQt ?) TToXvKpavog y t^tij/ 
^pcLKOv, ri 7rvpi(p\sy(i)v 
bpauOai Xewv, 

Bacchae, 1016, ed. Barnes. 

Do thou a bull upon us break, 
Or a many-headed snake, 
Or in red fire gleaming bright 
Burst a lion on our sight. 

G 2 



84 NOTES, 

Note S p. 82.] 

Ay, Bacchus, roaring Bacchus, I — whom ei^st my mother bare, 
The bright Cadme'ian Semele, 

Zw£t fiev Ev 'OXvjUTTtotg, 
diroOavoiaa PpS^cit 
Kspavvov, TavvsOei- 
pa "EsfisXa' (piXsX 
Sk fiLV HaWag a lei, 
Kal ZevQ Tzarrip jjLoXa' (piXtl 
de TraiQ 6 Ki(7(TO(p6pog, 

Pindar, 01. ii, 44. 

Lo ! in high heaven for evermore 

Immortal dwelleth she, — 

Who perish'd in the thunder-roar, — 

Long-tressed Semele. 

Dear to blest Pallas' changeless love, 

And dear, most dear, to parent Jove, 

Dear too, to him, whose joy 

It is with ivy-wand to rove — 

— ^Her own light-hearted boy. 



6 ^SfJLsXtJQ yovoQ, 
jSorpvoQ vypbv tto/x' evpe, KeidrjvsyKaTO 
Qvi)toIq, o Travai tovq raXaiTrupovg (SpoTOvg 
XvTTTjQ, orav TrXrjcrdaxjiv d/jLTreXov porjg' 
vTTvov TE XrjOrjv twv KaOiJiikpav KaKojv 
didioaiv, ovd' €(Tr aXXo (pdpfiaKov ttovojv* 

Bacchae, 278, ed. Barnes, 

Yes, son of Semele, 
First at thine hand the gushing wine-draught ran, 
Nor woo'd in vain the dusty lip of man, 



NOTES. 85 

He quaffs, he quaffs, the rich juice of the vine, 

— Now can the mourner weep, the prisoner pine 1 — 

To-day flung off, he heedeth not the morrow, 

But sleeps ; — what other charm have we for sorrow 1 

Thus Tibullus,— 

Bacchus et agricolae magno confecta labore 

Pectora tristitiae dissoliienda dedit. 
Bacchus et afflictis requiem mortalibus affert, 

Crura licet dura compede pulsa sonent. 
Non tibi sunt tristes curae, nee luctus, osiri; 

Sed chorus, et cantus, et levis aptus amor ; 
Sed varii flores, et frons redimita corymbis, 

Fusa sed ad teneros lutea palla pedes. 
Et Tyriai vestes, et dulcis tibia cantu, 

Et levis occultis conscia cista sacris. 
Hue ades, et centum ludos, geniumque choreis 

Concelebra, et multo tempora funde mero. 

Lib. i, Eleg. vii.l. 39. 

His weight of woe if Bacchus deign unbind, 
Leaps with fresh life the worn and wearied hind ; 
If Bacchus deign the captive's heart to cheer. 
His chain, unfelt, clanks music in his ear. 
No wringing cares, no grief, bright god of wine, 
But dance, and song, and genial love are thine ; 
Thine — spring's gay flowers, the ivy-braided brow, — 
Thine — the long saffron mantle's sweepy flow. 
Pipe, and blithe lay, and robes of purple bright. 
And casket, witness of the hidden rite. 
Haste then, — and here thine endless revel keep, 
Haste — and in floods of wine thy temples steep. 

Note^, p. 82.] Hail! child of rosy Semele. I shall take the 
liberty of subjoining, from Aristophanes, one of those *' mad melo- 



86 NOTES. 

dies*' with which the Bacchanal spirits of aftertimes delighted to in- 
voke the presence of their favoured deity. 

"laKx w TToXvTifjLTiToig kv 

'iSpaig svOdde vaiojv, 

"laKx w ^laKx^, K. r. \. Ranae, 323. 

Haste, lacchus, wont to dwell 
In the bowers thou lov'st so well.. 
Blithe lacchus ! bold lacchus ! 
Haste ! — and o'er the laughing mead 
Us thy trusty liegemen lead, 
Haste ! — and round thy temples wave 
(Let's be merry, let's be merry^ 
Fruitaged garland blooming brave 
With the clustering myrtle-berry. 
Come — with free and fearless pace. 
Come — with music's mellow chime. 
Full of gladness, full of grace, 
Not a step be out of time. 
Sparkling measure, dance divine, 
Bacchus, Bacchus, we are thine. 

[He appears torch in hand, approaching from the distance. ^ 

Wake the pine-brands into light. 
Make them like thine own burn bright. 
Bright as that wherewith thou flamest. 
Flashing round thee as thou earnest. 
Kindling thro' the depths of night, 
Day-star of the sunless rite. 

[T/ieir torches flame out at once.] 

Hurra ! hurra ! bank, bush, and scarr, 
Redden to the flash afar, — 



NOTES. 87 

With trembling glee strains Eldhood's knee, 
To follow, follow, follow, free. 

Crushing grief and slavering fear. 
Starting, from their back they shake, 
Gathered weight of many a year. 
Holiest ! for thy glory's sake. 
Up then ! with thy blazing pine 
Light us on thro' glen and grove, 
Lead us, while the dance we twine, 
—Children of thy mystic love. 



SECOND BOOK OF HOMER'S ILIAD. 



All night the gods and earth's mail'd warriors slept — 

Sweet sleep ; but Jove his restless vigil kept, 

In thought distract^ how Thetis' son to raise, 

And whelm the Greeks amid their navy's blaze. 

Then seem'd, nor lightly weigh'd, this counsel best, 

O'er Atreus' son to shed a dream unblest - : 

Whom call'd he thus with winged words address'd ^ : 

" Hence, lying dream, the Achaean war-ships seek, 
Hence to the tent where sleeps the royal Greek ^ ; 
Trusty thy words, and true, as I shall say, 
Cry — " up ! and arm thee all thy war-array : 
For thine, ev'n now, are Troy's imperial towers. 
And thine the dwellers in the Olympian bowers ; 
Quell 'd are their feuds, and lo ! at Juno's prayer. 

O'er Ilion hangs the blackness of despair." 
He spake : the vision to his words gave heed, 

Quick boune for flight he reach'd the camp with speed ; 

Then in his war- tent found him, where the king 

Steep'd in ambrosial sleep lay slumbering. 

Like Neleus' son he stood, his head above ^, 

Nestor — first elder in Atrides' love. 



90 SECOND BOOK OF 

Then spake the dream of heaven :— " still slumber- 
ing on — 
Son of the sleepless ^ — car-borne Atreus' son ? 
Shame on that prince, whose slumbers all night last '', 
With nations charged and girt with cares so vast : 
Heed then my words, — the words of Jove are they,— 
Who pitieth thee, and loves, tho' far away ^. 
Up ! at his call— and arm the Achaean powers, 
For thine, ev'n now, are Troy's imperial towers 9, 
And thine the dwellers in the Olympian bowers ; 
ftuell'd are their feuds by Juno's prayer, and Jove 
Dark terror hangs the walls of Troy above. 
He wills, — do thou heart-lock'd his bidding keep, 
Nor aught forget, when freed from balmy sleep." 

This said, he vanish'd ^^ ; — while the monarch's 
thought 
Shaped fairest deeds, — ne'er fated to be wrought. 
Ev'n on that day he deem'd proud Troy his own ^^ ; 
Fool — not to him were Jove's deep counsels known, 
To him the groans, the anguish unreveal'd. 
Of Greece and Troy in many a fated field. 
Upris'n ^^ — the voice divine still whispering round — 
He sat, and on the vest's soft raiment bound. 
Fresh wrought ; then donn'd his wide robe, and in 

haste 
On his smooth feet the shapely sandals laced ^^ ; 
Then o'er his shoulders his huge battle-brand 
Slung, silver-starr'd, and wielding in his hand 
His sires' proud sceptre, incorrupt for aye, 
Went — where the Achaians mid their galleys lay. 



homer's ILIAD. M 

But when bright Morn the Olympian hill 'gan pace. 
Angel of light to Jove and heaven's high race ^S 
Atrides gave command, that heralds loud 
Bid all the long-hair'd Greeks to council crowd. 
The heralds cried, — fast gathered man on man ; — 
First then he stay'd the elders' sage divan ^^ : 
Beside the ship of Nestor, Pylian king, 
The chiefs he call'd, and spake deep -communing : 

'' Comrades, give ear, this night a dream divine 
Steep'd in ambrosial slumber hath been mine ; 
In godlike Nestor's stature, gait, and form 
It seem'd ^^ — ^and thus with life's own semblance warm 
Stood o'er my head, and cried, ' still slumbering on — 
Son of the sleepless — car-borne Atreus' son ? — 
Shame on the prince, whose slumbers all night last. 
With nations charged and girt with cares so vast : 
Heed then my words, — the words of Jove are they, — - 
Who pitieth thee, and loves, tho' far away. 
Up ! at his call — and arm the Achaean powers, 
For thine, ev'n now, are Troy's imperial towers, 
And thine the dwellers in the Olympian bowers ; 
Quell'd are their feuds by Juno's prayer, and Jove 
Dark terror hangs the walls of Troy above. 
He wills, — nor thou forget.' — The vision spake, 
And wing'd his flight : — then up from sleep I brake. 
But come, — that all may arm them for the iight, — 
Myself with guile will tempt their souls to flight, 
And bid lanch forth their stout-nail'd barks, — but ye 
Haste to and fro, and hold them lest they flee." 



92 SECOND BOOK OF 

He said, and sat : with wisdom's ^vinning smile 
Rose Nestor then, the prince of sandy Pyle, 
And spake : " Friends, lords of Argos, leaders bold. 
Had other Greek this wondrous vision told, 
False had it seem'd, and witless to our \dew ; 
But now — w^hat Greek dare call the word untrue — 
Vouch' d by our king — the prince w^hom all obey ? — 
Up ! then, and arm we all our war-array." 

He spake, and onward from the council led ; 
Uprising all obey'd the people's head. 
Bright-sceptred kings : — the host fast following sped. 
Ev'n as the honey-bees' i^' dense swarms, that flock 
Still fresh and fresh from out the rifted rock. 
Flit in thick clusters o'er the flowers of spring, 
Now here, now there, yet ever on the wing ; 
Ev'n thus the marshal'd tribes from bark and tent. 
O'er the steep sands outpour'd, to council went, 
For in the midst a burrdng voice w^as heard. 
That urged them onward, Jove's immortal Word^^. 
They met — confusion all — deep groan'd the ground ^9 
While down they sat, and tumult roar'd around. 
Then heralds nine went forth to quell the din, 
And for the Jove-nursed kings meet audience win, 
Crymg aloud : — the unpatient host thereat 
Took each their seats, and close-embodied sat. 
Straight then upstood — their noisy clamour still'd — 
The king of men, — his hand that sceptre fill'd 
Which sage Hephaestus erst had wTought, and given 
To Saturn's son, high Jove, the king of heaven — 



homer's ILIAD. 93 

Jove to his son — the herald Argicide -^ ; 

To Pelops, he, who lash'd the courser's side ; 

Pelops to Atreus, shepherd-prince, — in death 

He to Thyestes did its power bequeath, 

Thyestes — rich in flocks ^^ that track the thymy heath. 

To Agamemnon he — therewith to reign 

Lord of the isles, and Argos' broad domain. 

Stay'd on its strength, with hurried words of grief — 

** Friends, Danaan warriors," — cried the indignant chief, 

" Liegemen of Mars, — to yoke of heaviest scorn 

Jove links your king, and leaves him thus forlorn ; 

Relentless Jove — who vow'd beneath my feet 

Proud Troy to crush, and freight my home-bound fleet, 

Vow'd, but in guile, — ^for now to Argos' shore 

He points — ^my glory nought, my host no more ^2. 

Jove's pleasure such — whose outstretch'd arm hath rent 

— Tall tower and many a rock-hewn battlement. 

Holds of earth's strength — he smote them and shall 

smite 
Hereafter, — for his power is infinite ~^. 
Foul tale for days to come, a tale of shame. 
That host so great — Achaia's noblest — came. 
Came — and vain warfare waged, by foemen met 
Far fewer 2^, — but the end hath come not yet. 
— Yes — should we both — with stricken leagues and true, 
Trojans and Greeks, our numbered hosts review, 
They — singly told — tried sons of Trojan line, > 
Tho' we in bands of ten our Greeks combine. 
And thus each Trojan choose our cup to fill, — 
The cup of many a ten were wineless still. 



94 SECOND BOOK OF 

Thus far, methinks, the sons of Greece exceed 
Troy's homebom race — but in her hour of need 
Fast mustering, march, from many a town and tower -^, 
Stout plumps of spears, and bar my baffled power, 
Nor passway yield me — thirsting to destroy 
The embattled gates of stately-structured Troy. 
Now are nine years of mighty Jove gone by, 
Our cordage marr'd, our barks all rotting lie, 
Ev'n now — our wives and little ones, at home 
His coming watch — who ne'er perchance may come ^, 
Ev'n now — the deed unwrought that lured us here — 
— But list ye all, — to what I speak give ear -7 ; 
Lanch we our barks, — and seek our own dear land, 
For Troy not yet shall stoop beneath our hand." 
Thus spake the king, and all their bosoms stirr'd 
Thro' that wide host — who ne'er his counsel heard. 
Then shook the conclave ~^, as with wild unrest 
The huge sea-billows on the Icarian's breast. 
Heaved by the east and south-wind to and fro, 
When from the thunderer's rended clouds they blow. 
And as when west-winds shall, with blast of fear. 
Smite the rich corn and stir the bristling ear. 
The whole host staggered ; — then with uproar sped 
Back to their ships, while from beneath their tread 
Thick dust hung o'er them -9 •. — then rose cheer and 

shout 
To grasp their barks and lanch in ocean out ; 
The keel-grooves clear'd and slack'd the warps' stout 1 

hold. 
Glad shouts of home up heaven reechoing roll'd. 



homer's ILIAD. 95 

And home had they, in doom's despite, retum'd, 
When with fierce word to Pallas Juno burn'd : 

*' Heavens ! and shall thus, thou child, whom nought 
can quell, 
Of ^gis-armed Jove, invincible. 
Thus mock'd, thus homeward, shall the Argives flee, 
O'er the wide bosom of the trackless sea, — 
And leave to Priam — Troy's triumphant prize — 
The Argive Helen, in whose battle lies 
The flower of Greece, cut ofl", from home afar ? — 
But haste, and seek the Achaian ranks of war, 
Now, now, with winning words each warrior keep, 
Nor give one galley to the tossing deep." 

She said : and slighting not the queen's behest 
Down rush'd Athena from Olympus' crest. 
Swift reach'd the fleet, and rooted where he stood 
Ulysses found, — like Jove in counsel good, — 
Firm fix'd : — no hand upon his bark he laid. 
Grief seized his heart and on his spirit prey'd. 
Then, drawing near, the blue-eyed goddess cried, 
** Laertes' son divine — in wisdom tried — 
Thus cower ye trembling your tall barks among, — 
Thus — fly ye thus — a home-sick, heartless throng ? — 
And leave to Priam — Troy's triumphant prize — 
The Argive Helen, in whose battle lies 
The flower of Greece, cut ofl", from home afar ? — 
But haste, and seek the Achaian ranks of war; 
Now, now, with winning words each warrior keep, 
Nor give one galley to the tossing deep." 



96 SECOND BOOK OF 

While yet she spake, the goddess' voice he knew ; 
Then off — for speed addrest — his mantle threw, 
Which the prompt herald stood at hand to seize, 
His chieftain's follower, staunch Eurybates. 
Him then Atrides met upon his way. 
And gave the sceptre, incorrupt for aye, 
Borne by his sires, — therewith Ulysses went 
Thro' the wide fleet on loftiest mission bent ; 
And whom he found, or king, or man of might. 
Won vdth persuasion, and withheld from flight : 

" 111 fits thee, chief, this craven-like dismay ^^ ; 
But stay thyself, and all thy people stay. 
Our monarch's mind dost thou but dimly know, 
He tempts us now — to work hereafter woe. 
Not all his purpose we in council heard : 
Sore can he smite if once his virath be stirr'd. 
Mighty the thoughts a monarch's heart that swell ^i, 
And great his glory, loved by Jove so well ^2." 
But whom of baser sort he clamouring met ^^, 
His sceptre smote, and such his chiding threat : 

" Peace, knave, and sit, — the words of others hear,- 
Thy betters far^^ ; — a chieftain's voice revere : 
Unwarlike thou, and spiritless, nor aught 
In battle numbered, as in council— nought. 
But we Achaians here not all are kings ; 
From parted princedom scant advantage springs ; 
One be our prince, one king, whom Jove's right hand 
Gifts with just lore and sceptre of command." 
Thus marshal'd he the host ; from bark and tent. 
To council back with crowding steps they went, 



homer's ILIAD. 97 

Dinning : — as when the boisterous billow pours 

Up the rough beach — and loud the great sea roars, 

Down then they sat and all attentive hung ;35 

Thersites only plied his chattering tongue, 

Whose lips with shame, whose heart v/ith malice rife, 

Foul utterance framed, and still with kings at strife. 

In jest and gibe the ribald-laugh that caught 

Well-conn'd — Troy walls, the foulest wight, he sought ; 

Squint-eyed, and limping on one leg ; — a height 

Of toppling shoulders pinch'd his bosom tight ; 

His head went tapering up — and o'er the top 

Scant wool spread here and there its straggling crop : 

By Peleus' son far loathliest held of all, 

And sage Ulysses, — butts of his rude brawl. 

Then, on Atrides jabbering taunts accurst, 

While Greece with fiery indignation burst, 

He cried : 

" Still pining, king, and craving still ? 
Brass heaps thy tents, and maids await thy will, 
Choice maids and fair, — whom first to thee we brought, 
Spoils of sack'd towns by us the Achaeans wrought. 
Or gold ev n yet dost covet — which from Troy 
Some chief shall bring — the ransom of his boy, 
Whom I, perchance, have gathered to the prey, 
Or other Greek hath bound and borne away ? — 
Or some fresh girl, with love to while the hour, 
Barr'd from all eyes, and treasured in thy bower, 
Such thy desire ?— yet ill beseems the king. 
Thus o'er his sons the yoke of shame to fling. 

H 



VO SECOND BOOK OF 

** Dastards ! Greek Women — Men of Greece ^^ no more ! 
Home let us haste, and here on Troy's lone shore 
Leave this our king to revel in his lot, 
And see if succoured by our arm— or not : 
Who but ev'n now from one, his better far — 
— From scom'd Achilles, — seized the spoil of war. 
But soft that chieftain's heart, his wrath soon past, 
Or this foul rape, Atrides, were thy last." 

Taunting the monarch thus Thersites cried : 
But straight divine Ulysses at his side 
Stood sternly eyeing, and with threats 'gan chide : 

" Peace — lewd Thersites, shrilly chatterer — peace. 
Nor strive — thou only — with the lords of Greece. 
For none more foul than thou, more reft of shame, 
Leagued with the Atridse under Ilion came. 
Mouth then no more the name of kings, but learn 
To curb thy scoffs, nor whisper of return. 
Not yet the end of all these things we know, 
Nor if we Greeks launch hence in weal or woe* 
Yes — taunt Atrides — shepherd of his host — 
That him the Danaan heroes honour most ; 
Be theirs large presents, to his glory due, 
Re\ilings thine — yet thou those scoffs shalt rue : 
For mark my ^Yord, assured by Fate it lies. 
Still should I find thee fool, as now, unwise. 
Headless ^^ — no longer stand Ulysses thus, 
Nor sire be called of young Telemachus, 
If all that raiment off I fail to tear. 
Mantle and vest — nor leave thy foulness bare. 



homer's ILIAD. 99 

And thus from council, bruised with blow of scorn, 
Thro' the fleet send thee howling and forlorn." 

He said : — on back and shoulder stroke on stroke 
Fell : — down he crouch' d, and forth the hot tear broke. 
Uprose the red bump o'er his back sore-waled 
Beneath the staff of gold ; — he sat and quail'd» 
Writhing, he look'd in pitiful dismay, 
And weeping still, still wiped the tear away. 
Thereat laugh'd each one roundly out, tho' vext. 
And thus cried looking to his fellow next : 

'^ Great gods !-^how manifold Ulysses' might, 
First in sage counsel and the helm of fight. 
But this last deed, — -that drives yon slandering pest 
Away from council, — far outweighs the rest. 
No : — ne'er again that valiant heart shall vaunt 
'Gainst kings its strength, and war with bitterest taunt." 

Up then, while communed thus the multitude, 
Sceptre in hand, the Tower-destroyer^ stood, 
Ulysses : — at his side the blue-eyed maid, 
In herald-guise, the host to silence bade. 
That first and last each son of Greece that day 
His word might hear and well his purpose weigh. 
Then spake the chieftain wisely counselling : 

" Woe worth the day ! if thus thy Greeks, O king I 
Foul treachery plot, and wed thee to disgrace. 
Scandal and scorn to all of mortal race ; — 
If thus their pledge they slight, their vows of yore, 
Mustering for Troy on Argos' pastured shore, 
With thee to conquer or return no more ! — 



100 SECOND BOOK OF 

If, whispering eacli to each, for home they pine, 

With infant wail, and lonely woman's whine ^9. 

— -'Tis hard in grief to part ; — the mariner, 

Held but one moon from her he loves afar, 

Leans on his ship, and looks with sorrowing eye, 

While the winds mock him and the waves rush by. 

But we — ^on Troy's bleak shore thus linger nine 

Long years — not months ; then well the Greeks may pine 

At their black barks ; yet all the thought would spurn, 

Thus long to stay, and empty still return ^^. 

Wait, friends, the hour await ^i, that yet shall tell 

If true or false the words from Calchas fell. 

For this full well we know-— bear witness all — 

All — whom not yet the fates of death enthral. 

That day, — at Aulis while our galleys lay, 

Woe-fraught for Troy, it seems but yesterday, 

While we, the altar round and fount's clear spring, 

The immortals graced with holiest offering, 

That beauteous plane beneath, whence bubbling well'd 

The bright rill forth— -strange sight your eyes beheld. 

A dragon grim, his back all flame-besprent, 

Which into day the Olympian's self had sent. 

Shot from beneath the altar stone, and sprung 

Up the tall plane, where sat a sparrow's young. 

Sat — on the topmost spray — with leaves o'erstrew'd — 

Eight, and the mother ninth, that bare the brood. 

All these he crounch'd, despite their piteous shriek, 

While round the mother flew, v/ith gaping beak, 

Wailing her young : till he in many a ring 

Stifled her cries, and seized her by the wing. 



homer's ILIAD. 101 

Then, all the young birds and their mother gorged, 
The god, who sent him, a fresh wonder forged — , 
Sage Saturn's son ; — he tum'd him into stone, 
While we stood gazing at the marvel shoAvn. 
Thus on our hecatombs dread portents brake. 
But straight, by heaven instructed, Calchas spake : 

* Why speechless — warriors of the locks unshorn ? — 
Lo ! the great sign from Jove's deep counsels borne. 
Tho' long it linger, long unwrought remain. 
It comes — the deed whose glory ne'er shall wane. 
For as the mother and her youngling care 
He gorged, eight birds, and ninth the dam that bare, 
Ev'n thus for nine long years vain war we wake ; 
The tenth — and ours yon spacious town to take.' 
Thus counseird he, and thus shall fate fulfil : 
Then up and all — Achaia's warriors still — 
Abide ye here the coming of that hour. 
When stoops to conquest Priam's lordly tower." 
He spake : the Greeks loud shouted ; echoing out 
Through the far navy rang the Achaeans' shout. 
Commending much divine Ulysses' w^ord ; 
Then steed-borne Nestor spake, Gerenian lord : 

" Gods ! how ye wrangle — triflers as ye are — 
Like boys, that reck not of the deeds of war. 
What now your plighted leagues — the oaths ye swore ^^ ? — 
What now ? — spent brands that feed the flame no more ! 
All nought — care, counsel, scheme in wisdom plann'd, 
The pure libation, and the pledged right-hand. 
For vain this wordy war, nor yet appears 
The long-^ught issue of our wasted years. 



102 SECOND BOOK OF 

But thou, as erst, O king, with voice of might, 

Thine Argives marshal thro' the din of fight. 

And let them pine — yon scanty few — that plot 

Aloof from all, their plans shall aid them not ; 

Nor Argos reach they — ere from Jove's decree 

They ken if true or false the promise be. 

For sure am I, Saturnius gave assent 

Ev'n on that day, when to their galleys went 

The Greeks, 'gainst Ilion threatening fate and flame ; 

Yes, on our right the accordant lightning came ^^. 

Let none then homeward speed him o'er the wave, 

Ere Troy's fair wives sleep each a warrior's slave ; 

Ere Ilion, with her noblest blood, atone 

For Helen's wrongs— the rallying, and the groan. 

But who so madly thirsts for home, why, bark ! 

Let him lay hand upon his transom'd bark, 

That he, the foremost in the flight, may feel. 

First fruits of death, the sharp edge of the steel. 

Then well advise thee. King, control each Greek, 

For true my heart, nor vain the words I speak* 

By clan, by nation, rank them, man by man, 

Thus nation — nation,— clan give aid to clan. 

If this thy will, and this the Achaeans yield. 

Well shalt thou mark upon the battle field, 

What chief, what people, bears a coward-heart, 

And who wars bravely, while they war apart. 

Thus learn, if heaven forbid yon city's fall^ 

Or man's weak arm and terror's heartless thraU.*^ 

Him then with ready word the king address'd : 

** Father of Greece, thou wisest, noblest, best^ 



HOMER S ILIAD. 103 

Ah ! would to heaven — ^that in his parent-love 

But ten such friends were granted me hy Jove, 

Soon then should smoulder Priam's towers in smoke, 

And soon our hands the strength of Ilion yoke ^^. 

But no — ^harsh Jove hath doom'd me to distress. 

To fruitless hroils, and strife's long bitterness. 

For I and Peleus' son, with taunts accurst, 

Strove — for a girl : — but mine the madness first. 

Yet once embrace we— not a moment's space 

Of rest and rescue then to Troy's doom'd race. 

But now, haste each to banquet ^^, and anon 

Gather his strength and gird for battle on ; 

Well whet his steel ^^, and well his buckler brace, 

Well tend with food his steeds of winged pace. 

Scan each his car well round, that best it bide 

The brunt of war from morn till eventide. 

No pause, no respite, not a moment's then. 

Till night descending hush the strife of men. 

Then o'er each breast let belted buckler sweat '*^ 

Man-compassing ^^ ; each hand let spear- staff fret : 

Sweat too the steed, thro' battle's cloudy van 

A^Tiirling the chariot ^9 ;-^yea sweat horse and man. 

But whom that hour from fight afar I meet. 

With willing footsteps, lingering at the fieet, 

No hope for him, no hand, from each foul limb 

To scare the wild dog and the vulture grim ^^." 

He spake : the Greeks loud shouted all, with roar 

Fierce as of breakers on some steepy shore ; 

WTiat time the south winds stir them, while they sweep 

O'er foreland cliff, far jutting in the deep. 



104 SECOND BOOK OF 

AVTiich the waves leave not, in their fury driven, 
A^Tien to and fro rush all the blasts of heaven. 
They rose, and scattering mid their ships stream' d fast : 
Smoke curl'd from tent to tent : they took repast ; 
And, service paid to each immortal power, 
Pray'd death to shun in battle's dismal hour. 
Then a brave bull the king of men led on, 
Fatted, five-year'd, to Saturn's mighty son ; 
And call'd the noblest chiefs throughout the fleet, 
Sage Nestor first, — and next the king of Crete, 
Each Ajax then, — then Tydeus' son, and last 
Ulysses, scarce by Jove in counsel past. 
Self-call'd came Menelas, war-waking chief. 
Friend of his soul he felt his brother's grief. 
Then round the bull they stood and grasp'd the cake : 
When thus v^ith lip of prayer Atrides spake : [home, 
" Dread Jove, cloud-compass'd, — making heaven thine 
Let not yon sun go down, and darkness come, 
Ere Priam's halls this arm shall headlong hurl 
In flame, and fire-flakes round his portals curl ; — 
Ere mine to rive and rend, on Hector's breast. 
Rough with wrought brass his corslet's quilted vest, 
And many a comrade, from liis chariot thrust. 
Fall round his chief and gnash his teeth in dust ^^.''' 
He pray'd, and Jove, his prayer vouchsafing not, 
Received his gifts : yet doom'd to heaviest lot. 
But when theu* vows had ceased, and each had thi'own 
The salt-meal o'er the ^'ictim's forehead strown, 
Backward the kine they wrench'd, then stabb'd and flay'd, 
Tlie thiohs carved ofl', a double cawl they made : 



homer's ILIAD. 105 

Then in rich folds of fat the limbs they wound, 

And layers, unseethed, the well-piled viands cro"s\Ti'd. 

These then they broil'd on leafless brands and dry, 

And the pierced entrails o'er the flame held high. 

The thighs well broil'd, 'gan all the inwards taste, 

Then sliced the rest, and on the flesh-prongs placed. 

Such passing skill they plied, to roast and broil ; 

Then, all drawn off, they rested from their toil, 

Deck'd the glad board, and spread the banquet there, 

Nor lack'd one soul his just-apportion'd fare. 

All cra\TQg banish'd then, with opening word 

Gerenian Nestor spake, steed-loving lord : 

'* Atrides, king of men, renown'd o'er all. 

Cease we our parle at heaven's heart-stirring call; 

And come, thro' all the fleet be heralds sent, 

To bid the mustering Greeks from bark and tent : 

Then thro' the host, embodied as we are, 

Haste we and instant wake the Greeks to war." 

He spake : the war-king to his words gave heed, 
And bade forthwith the loud-voiced heralds speed 
The Greeks for war to muster, one and all ; 
They call'd : the host fast-gathered at their call : 
Then sped the kings round Atreus' son, intent 
To marshal ; — with them keen-eyed Pallas went, 
Arm'd "vdth that ^gis of immortal mould ^-, 
Glorious, undimm'd, whose hundred braids of gold 
Play'd round of fairest woof ; the worth of each 
A hundred noblest beeves ^^ might hardly reach. 
Lightening whercT^dth, thro' all that arm'd array 
The goddess rush'd, and cheer'd them to the fray ; 



106 SECOND BOOK OF 

And o'er eacli bosom breathed unwonted migbt, 
To war unwearied in the field of fight. 
And dearer far the joys of battle now, 
Than hail of home from onward-hurndng prow. 
As o'er a wood ^^, on some tall liill-top hung, 
Bursts the pent flame, and far the blaze is flung : 
Thus from then* red brass, flashing as they went, 
Fierce sj^lendour shot, and clomb the firmament. 
As when the soaring mid birds' ^^ m^Tiad clans, 
Of moor-fowl, cranes, or neck-outstretching swans. 
On Asius' mead, Cayster's bank beside, 
Sweep to and fro and clap then- wings of pride, 
Then with shrill screams, while flock their fellows in, 
Light down — the wide vale trembling at the din : 
Ev n thus roll'd forth from bark and tent amain 
The serried nations to Scamander's plain, 
'\Miile, deep beneath, the ground wdth hollow knell 
Groan'd, as from horse and man the footstep fell. 
Then halted on Scamander's field of fiowers. 
Dense as the buds ^^ in spring's awakening hours, 
And countless as the flies' gay tribes, that wing 
Their glancmg flight at even-fall in spring, 
^^llen with fresh milk the pails o'erflowing foam, 
And the glad iasects round the herd-stalls roam. 
Then too, as goatherds part, with vision keen. 
Their boundless flocks that mingle on the green, 
Their host the cliieftains marshal'd, line by line, 
^Mustering for war : — and there the king di^dne 
Atrides moved, like Jove in eye, in brow 
Like Jove, that glorieth in the lightning's glow^ ; 



homer's ILIAD. 101 

Like the bold war-god's was his baldrick's girth, 
His chest like N'eptune's, Rocker of the Earth. 

As o'er the herd supreme and far descried 
Towers a brave bull, the pasturing heifers' pride ^^, 
Thus, on that day, did Jove Atrides grace. 
Palm of his host, and earth's heroic race^ 



[The reader will, I hope, excuse my omitting the 
roll-call of the troops ; which, however interesting when 
drawn up in unison with the full strength of the Iliad, 
could not but have proved an unnecessary addition to 
the forces of my little detachment.][ 



I 



NOTES 



SECOND BOOK OF HOMER'S ILIAD. 



Xote^ p. 89.] In thought distract, 

Mentre in vari pensier divide e parte 
L' incerto animo suo che non ha posa ; 

TassO; Ger. Lib. c. vi, s. 31. 

Assembled in her unresolved heart, 

A thousand passions strove and ceaseless fought. 

Fairfax. 

Atque animum nunc hue celerem, nunc dividit illuc 
In partesque rapit varias, perque omnia versat, 
HsRC alternanti potior sententia visa est. 

Virg. ^n. iv, 235. 

jS'ovv here, now there, his reckless mind Van run, 

And diversely him draws, discoursing all. 

After long doubts this sentence seemed best. Lord Surrey. 



110 KOTES. 

Note^, p. 89.] 

O^er Atreus^ son to shed a dream unblest. 

And the Lord said, who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up 
and fall at Ramoth-Gilead? And one said on this manner, and 
another said on that manner. And th,ere came forth a Spirit, and 
stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the 
Lord said unto him, wherewith ? And he said, I will go forth, and 
I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And [the 
Lord] said, thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also : go forth, and 
do so. 1 Kings, xxii, 20. 2 Chron. xviii, 19. 

Note^ p. 89.] 

Whom calVd he thus with winged words address' d, 

Disse al suo Nunzio Dio, ** Goffredo trova 
Ed in mio nome di lui ; perche si cessa ? 
Perche la guerra omai non si rinnova, 
A liberar Gerusalemme oppressa? 
Chiami i Duci a consiglio, e i tardi mova 
Air alta impressa : e i capitan fia d'essa. 
lo qui r eleggo, e'l faran gli altri in terra, 
Gia suoi compagni, or suoi ministri in guerra.^' 

Cos! parlogli, e Gabriel s'accinse 
Veloce ad esequir I'imposte cose. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c, i, s. 12. 

To him the Almighty Father : '' Gabriel ! go. 
Bear in my name to Godfrey this behest ; — 
Wherefore this sleep of warfare ? why so slow 
To arm, and free Jerusalem oppressed? 
To council call the chiefs ; from slothful rest, 
Kouse the supine ; o'er every lord and knight 
Him with the sovereign rule I here invest. 
And make his past associates, ranked aright 
As his compeers, henceforth his ministers in fight." 



NOTES. Ill 

He said, and Gabriel plum'd himself to go 

Swift on the errand of his Lord j — Wiffen, vol. i. 

NoteS p. 89.] 

Hence to the tent where sleeps the royal Greek, 

Vade age, nate, voca Zephyros, et labere pennis, 
Dardaniumque ducem, Tyria Carthagine quo nunc 
Expectat, fatisque datas non respicit urbes, 
AUoquere, et celeres defer mea dicta per auras. 

Yirg. ^n. iv, 223. 

Hence, son, in haste 1 and call to thee the winds ; 
Slide with thy plumes, and tell the Troyan prince 
That now in Carthage loitereth, reckless 
Of the towns granted him by destiny. Lord Surrey. 

Note % p. 89.] 

Like Neleus' son he stood, his head above, 

Devolat et supra caput astitit : 

Virg. ^n. iv, 702. 

Amid the skies then did she fly adown 

On Dido's head. Lord Surrey. 

Sleep descended on the chiefs. — The visions of night arose. 
Oithona stood, in a dream, before the eyes of Morni's son. She 
stood over the chief, and her voice was feebly heard. " Sleeps the 
son of IMorni, he that was lovely in the eyes of Oithona ! Sleeps 
Gaul at the distant rock, and the daughter of Nuath low. The sea 
rolls round the dark isle of Tromathon. Ossian, Oithona. 

Note^, p. 90.] Son of the sleepless. 

Son of the chief of generous steeds ! high bounding king of 



112 NOTES. 

spears. Strong arm in eveiy perilous toil. Hard heart that never 
yields. Chief of the pointed arms of death. Cut down the foe. Let 
no white sail bound round dark Inistore. Son of the chief of gene* 
rous steeds, cut down the foe. Destroy ! Ossian, Fingal, b. iv. 

*' Soliman, Solima-no, i tuoi si lenti 
Biposi a miglior tempo omai riserva ; 
Che sotto il giogo di straniere genti 
La patria, ove regnasti, ancor e serva. 
In questa terra dormi 1 e non rammenti 
Ch' insepolte de' tuoi V ossa conserva ? 
Ove si gran vestigio e del tuo scorno, 
Tu, neghittoso, aspetti il novo giornoT* 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. x, s. 8. 

'' Solyman! Solyman ! this lazy rest 

To a more suited time reserve ; still groans 

The land thou'st ruled a weeping slave, oppress'd 

Beneath the yoke of foreign myrmidons. 

And sleep'st thou here, upon a soil that owns 

So deep a vestige of thy late disgrace ? 

Hast thou the sad remembrance lost, whose bones 

Uhtombed it holds 1 is it in such a place 

That thou must idly wait to give the morning chase?" 

WifFen, vol. ii. 

Note ^ p. 90.] 

Shame on that prince, whose slumbers all night last. 

ov %p?) KOiiiaaOai paOswQ gvv Traidl vsfiovra* 

Theocrit. Idyll, viii, 66. 

Hah ! Brightfoot ! how my dog ! so fast asleep 1 
Here trusting to a boy such numerous sheep ! 

Polwhele. 



113 



Jamque per humentem noctis Cyllenius umbram 
Aligero lapsu portabat jussa parentis. 
Nee mora : iDulcentem secure membra sopore 
Aggreditur juvenem, ac monitis incessit amaris : 
Turpe duci totam somno consumere noctem, 
O rector Libyae : vigil i stant bella magistro, 

Silius Ital. iii, 170. 

Now thro' the shades of night, bedropt with dew, 

Wing'd with his sire's command Cyllenius flew. 

No stay. The youth still lull'd in listless rest 

He found, and thus with bitter warning prest : 

'* Shame ! Libya's guide ! to waste whole nights in sleep. 

Shame ! — watchful eyes the lords of war must keep." 

Note 8, p. 90.] 

The words of Jove are they, — 
Who pitieth thee, and loves, tho' far away. 

Imperio Jovis hue venio ; qui classibus ignem 
Depulit, et coelo tandem miseratus ab alto est. 

Virg. ^n. V, 726. 

Hither 1 come, commission'd by the sire 

Of heaven, who snatch'd thy navy from the fire. 

And, pitying, now regards thee from above, 

Symmons, vol. i. 

Note^p.90.] 

For thine, ev'n now, are Troy^s imperial towers. 

Ecco la strada. Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. vii, s. 74. 

Behold the way. > Doyne. 

Hac iter est, inquit, vobis ad moenia Romas. 

Sil. Ital. Punic, 

Here lies your pathway to the walls of Rome. 

I 



114 NOTES. 

Note ^^ p. 90.] This said, he vani,h'd. 
— Sic fatus Rocti se immiscuit atrae. 



Virg. .^n. iv, 570. 



When Mercury had said, 
Amid his tate, far off from mortal eyes, 
Into light air he vanished out of sight. Lord Surrey. 

Note ^S p. 90.] 

Ev'n on that day he deeind proud Troy his own. 

Giudico questi (ahi cieca umana mente, 
Come i giudicj tuoi son vani e torti !) etc. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. iv, s. 21. 

And yet he thought (blind human wit, how vain 
And crooked are thy thoughts !) that God had blessed 
The Paynim arms, and surely would ordain 
Death to the unconquered armies of the West ; 

WifFen, vol. i. 

Nescia mens hominum fati, sortisque futurae. 

Virg. JEii,x, 501. 

Unhappy mortals to the future blind. Symmons, vol. ii. 



-O nostra folle 



Mente. Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xii, s. 58. 

O man, vain man, poor fool of pride and pain, 
Puffed up with every breath from fortune's wavering vane. 

Wiffen, vol. ii. 

Note 12^ p. 90.] 

Uprisn — the voice divine still whispering round — 
He sat, and on the vest's soft raiment bound, etc. 



NOTES. 115 

Consurgit senior, tunicaque iuducitur artus, 
Et Tyrrhena pedum circumdat vincula plantis. 
Turn lateri atque humeris Tegeaeum subligat ensem, 
Demissa ab laeva pantherae terga retorqueus. 

Virg. ^n. viii, 457. 

The hoary monarch rises from his bed, 
Thrown o'er his limbs the mantling fleeces meet, 
And Tuscan sandals clasp around his feet. 
A sword, Arcadia's work, adorns his side. 
And o'er it waves a panther's spotted hide. 

Symroons, vol. ii. 

Note^^^p. 90.] 

071 his smooth feet the shapely sandals laced. 

Or laced his mocassins, in act to go. 

Campbell, Gertrude. 

Note 1*, p. 91.] 

But when bright Morn the Olympian hill 'gan pace, 
Angel of light to Jove and heaven s high race, 

E quando appunto i raggi e le rugiade 
La bella Aurora seminava intorno, etc. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xv, s. 33. 

And when the Morn her drops and dews begun 
To scatter broad upon the flowering lay. — 

See all poets : passim. 
Note^^ p. 91.] 

First then he stay'd the elders' sage divan. 

Ergo concilium magnum, primosque suorum 
Imperio accitos, alta intra limina cogit. 

Virg. ^n. xi, 234. 
I 2 



Fairfax. 



116 



He calls a council, and the regal hall 

Is fiU'd with peers responsive to his call. Ring. 

Note l^ p. 91.] 

In godlike Nestor's stature, gait, and form 
It seem'd — 

Omnia longaevo similis vocemque coloremque 
Et crines albos, et sseva sonoribus arma. 

Virg. Mn. ix, 650. 

His wrinkled visage, and his hoary hairs, 
His habit, mien, and clashing arms he wears. 

Dry den. 

Note 17, p. 92.] 

Ev'n as the honey bees'* dense swarms, thaifiock. 

Ac, veluti in pratis, ubi apes estate serena 
Floribus insidunt variis, et Candida circum 
Lilia funduntur ; strepit omnis murmure campus. 

Virg. jEn. vi, 707. 

Thick as the bees in summer^s noontide air : 
When, eager to supply their fragrant cells. 
The myriad spoilers sack the lily-bells ; 
And thro' the field their busy murmur swells. 

Symmons, vol. i. 

Noteis, p. 92.] 

For in the midst a hurning voice was heard 
That urged them onward, Jove's immortal Word. 

<I> •)(^pv(ykaQ T8KV0V ''EXttlSoq, d^^pore ^djia. 

Soph. (Ed. Tyr.'15l. 

Thou child of golden Hope, imperishable Voice. 



NOTES. 117 

Notei^p. 92.] 

They met — confusion all — deep groaned the ground. 

Scuta sonant, pulsuque pedum tremit excita tellus. 

Virg. ^n. vii, 722. 

Shields ring ; — their tread wakes up the trembling ground. 

Note^o, p. 93.] 

Jove to his son — the herald Argicide. 

Letoque det, imperat, Argum. Ovid. Metam. i, 670. 

Commanding him to cut off Argus' head. Sandys. 

Note^^p. 93. 

Thyestes — rich inflochs that track the thymy heath. 

Quam dives pecoris, nivei quam lactis abundans. 

Yirg. Eel. xi, 20. 

What milk my pails, my folds what flocks o'erflow ; 

A thousand kimmers roam across my hills, 

And summer's, winter's milk my dairy fills. ^ 

Wrangham. 

Note 2=i, p. 93.] 

— My glory nought, my host no more, 

Patriam remeabo inglorius urbem. 

Virg. ^n. xi, 793. 

And from this field return inglorious home. 

'Ring, vol. ii. 

Note23, p. 93.] 

He smote them and shall smite. 
Hereafter, — -for his power is infinite. 



118 ^'OTES. 

I will lay thy cities waste, and thou sljalt be desolate, and thou 
shalt know that I am the Lord. Ezek. xxv, 4. 

Rerum cui summa potestas. 

Virg. ^n. X, 100. 

The universal potentate supreme. 

Note 24, p. 93.] 

Achaia's noblest — came. 
Came — and vain warfare waged, byfoemen met 
Far fewer, 

Vix hostem, alterni si congrediamur, habemus. 

Virg. ^n. xii, 233. 

Yet to the just encounter should we go. 
Each second man of us would want a foe. 

Symmons, vol. ii. 

Few are the foes before us, why should we clothe us in shades ? 

Ossian, Temora, b. ii. 

Note 25, p. 94.] 

But in her hour of need 
Fast mustering, march, from many a town and tower. 

From isle to isle they sent a spear, broken and stained with blood, 
to call the friends of their fathers, in their sounding arms. 

Ossian, Sulmalla of Luthon. 

The reader will doubtless be reminded of the gathering in Scott's, 
Lady of the Lake. 

Note 26, p. 94.] 

Evn now — our wives and little ones at home, 

His coming watch — who ne'er perchance may come. 



NOTES. 119 

From the window she looked forth, she cried, 
The mother of Sisera, through the lattice : 
'* Why is his chariot so long in coming? 
Why tarry the wheels of his chariot ?" 
Judges, V, 28. Milman's Hist, of Jews, vol, i, p. 197. 
And thus Lord Byron in the Giaour. 

See Bragela leaning on her rock. Her tender eye is in tears ; the 
winds lift her long hair from her heaving breast. She listens to the 
breeze of night, to hear the voice of thy'rowers : [vid. the Boatsong 
of Roderick Dhu.] to hear the song of the sea ! the sound of thy 
distant harp ! Ossian, Fingal, b. iv. 

The daughters of Morven come forth, like the bow of the shower ; 
they look towards green Erin for the white sails of the king. He 
had promised to return, but the winds of the north arose. 

Ossian, Lathmon. 

Long hast thou been absent, Nathos ! The day of thy return is 
past 1 Ossian, Dar-Thula. 

It is the white wave of the rock, and not CuthuUin's sails. Often 
do th« mists deceive me for the ship of my love ! when they rise 
round some ghost, and spread their grey skirts on the wind. Why 
dost thou delay thy coming, Son of the generous Semo ? Four times 
has autumn returned with its winds, and raised the seas of Togorma, 
since thou hast been in the roar of battles, and Bragela distant far. 

Ossian, Death of Cuthullin. 

Note ^, p. 94.] 

— But list ye all, — to what I speak give ear, 
Lanch we our harks and seek our own dear land. 

Ne qua meis esto dictis mora. — Virg. ^n. xii, 565. 

Hear, and my words with instant zeal obey. 

Symmons, vol. ii. 
" O sons of Erin," said Grumal, '' Lochlin conquers on the field. 
Why strive we as reeds against the wind ? Fly to the hill of dark- 
brown hinds." Ossian, Fingal, b. ii. 



120 NOTES. 

Note 28, p, 94.] Then shook the conclave. 

Vari usque per ora cucurrit 
Ausonidum turbata fremor ; ceu, saxa morantur 
Cum rapidos amnes, clauso fit gurgite murmur 
Vicinaeque fremunt ripae crepitantibus undis. 

Yirg. ^n. xi, 296. 

Scarce had he ceased, when thro' the Ausonian hall 
A various murmur spoke the doom of all ; 
Loud was the din as when the impending rock 
Meets the prone river and provokes the shock, 
When foam the waves resentful of restraint, 
And the vale echoes with their hoarse complaint. 

Symmons, vol. ii. 

Tall they removed beneath the words of the king. Each to h.s 
own dark tribe ; like waves, in a rocky bay, before the nightly 
wind. Ossian, Temora, b. ii. 

As different blasts fly over the sea, each behind its dark-blue 
wave, so Cathmor's words on every side, pour his warriors forth. 

Ossian, Temora, b. vi. 

Note 2^, p. 94.] Thick dust hung o'er them. 

Jam pulvere coelum 
Stare vident. Virg. ^n. xii, 407. 

The dusty whirlwind swells upon their sight. 

Symmons, vol. ii. 

La polve alzarsi guarda 
Sicche par che gran nube in aria stampi. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. iii, s. 9. 
The wary watchman — 
Distant beheld a cloud of dust arise. 
That fill'd, like a prodigious cloud, the air. 

Doyne, vol. i. 



NOTES* 121 



Note line 1, p. 96.] 

While yet she spake, the goddess' voice he kneic. 

w (pQkyii 'Addvaq (piXrciTrjg Sfioi 6eu>v, 
wg kvnaOsg aov, kclv dTroTrrog yg ojjiixjg, 
(pojvrjfi aKOVU) kol ^ifvaoTrd^uj (ppevl, 
XCiXkocttoijlov Kudojvog u/g TvpcrijvtKijg, 

Soph. Ajax, 14. 

accents of Minerva, to my soul 
Dearest of powers immortal, how mine ear 

Thy welcome voice perceives, and with my mind 

1 grasp the sounds, tho' thou art viewless still, 
Clear as the Tuscan trumpet's echoing clang ! 

Dale, vol. ii. 
Note^, p. 96.] 

Ill Jits thee, chief, this craven-like dismay. 

Che brami ? di salvarti 1 or meco riedi ; 
Che per la strada presa a morte vassi. 
Combatta qui chi di campar desia : 
La via d'onor della salute e via. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xx, s. 110. 

What seek'st thou 1 safety ? change thy mad career, 
The road thou takest leads to death ! be true 
To the borne crescent, and renounce thy fear ; 
He fights who wishes here to live ; come, woo 
Honour with me thy prince, her path is safety's too ! 

Wiffen, vol. ii. 

Note3i, p. 96.] 

Mighty the thoughts a monarch's heart that swell. 

Aeivd Tvpdvvijjv Xyjixara' Kai TTixjg 
oXiy' dpxofji^vot TToXXd Kparovvreg 
XoXsTrioQ opydg ^erafSdWovGi. Eurip. Med. 119. 



122 NOTES. 

For the souls 
Of kings are prone to cruelty, so seldom 
Subdued, and over others wont to rule, 
That it is difficult for such to change 
Their angry purpose. Wodhull, vol. i. 

x6\oQ 
A* ovic aXiOioQ 
Tiverai 7raiSo)v Aloc' 

Find. Pyth. iii, 21. 
So fearful 'tis for man to move 
The anger of the sons of Jove. 

Abraham Moore. 

Gravis iraregum est semper. Seneca, Med. 494. 

Compare Iliad, i, 80, and note ad loc. p. 31. 

Note 32, p, 96.] 

And great his glory, loved by Jove so well, 

'Ek dk AioQ (SagiXrift:, Hesiod, Theog. 96. 

'Ek ^e AioQ l3am\TJsg* iTrtl Aibg ovdkv avaKTiav 
Qeiorepov rtp Kai a^s tei)v EKoivao Xa^iv 
AwKag ck TrroXieOpa (pyKaGak^fiV' 

Calllmach. Hymn, in Jovem, 79. 

Jove's royal province is the care of kings ; 
For kings submissive hear thy high decree, 
And hold their delegated powers from thee. Pitt. 

Daniel answeied and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever 
and ever ; for wisdom and might are his : and he changeth the times 
and the seasons : he removeth kings and setteth up kings ; he giveth 
wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them w^ho know under- 
standing : he revealeth the deep and secret things : he knoweth 
what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. Daniel, 
ii, 20. 



NOTES. 123 

Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, for there is no 
power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Rom. 
xiii, 1. 

Note 33, p. 96. 

But whom of baser sort he clamouring met. 

Riede in guerra colui ch' arde di scorno, 
Usaei con gli altri poi sermon piu grave, etc. 

Tasso, Ger, Lib. c. xx, s. 111. 

Blushing the knight obeyed ; with far more stern 
And sharp rebukes the others he addressed ; 
These threats, those blows, that terror makes to turn. 
The chief's sharp sabre glittering at his breast. 

Wiffen, vol. ii. 

Note 3*, p. 96.] 

Peace, knave, and sit, — the words of others hear, 
Thy betters far ; — a chieftain s voice revere. 

QpaavcTTOiittv yap ov Trpkiru rovg rjcraovag. 

iEschyl. Suppl. 218. 

The pride of words ill suits thy low estate. Potter. 

Note 35, p. 97.] 

Down then they sat, and all attentive hung. 

OUi obstupuere silentes, 
Conversique oculos inter se atque ora tenebant, 
Turn senior, semperque odiis et crimine Drances 
Infensus juveni Turno — 

Virg. ^n. xi, 120. 



124 



So spake the hero ; and in dumb surprise 
The Latiaas stood, conversing with their eyes, 
Till Drances, first in years, who long had view'd 
Turnus with hate and as a foe pursued- — 

Symmons, vol. ii. 

Note 36, p. 98.] 

Dastards ! Greek Women — Men of Greece no more, 

O vere Phrygis neque enim Phryges ! 

Virg. ^n. ix, 617. 

Go I Phrygian women less than Phrygian men. 

Symmons, vol. ii. 

O Franchi no, ma Tranche ! 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xi, s. 61. 

Women of France and warlike Franks no more ! 

Doyne, vol. ii. 

Note 37, p. 98.] Headless. 

Nam caput e nostra citius cervice recedet, 

Ovid. Ep. Pont, ii, viii, 65. 

Nam citius paterer caput hoc discedere cello. 

Propert. ii, vii, 7. 

Note 3S, p. 99.] 

TJie Tower 'destroyer stood. 

Pergama tum vici, cum vinci posse coegi. 

Ovid. Metam. xiii, 349. 



NOTES. 125 

I, in that I 
Have made it feasible, have taken Troy. Sandys. 

Note 39, p. 100.] 

With infant wail, and lonely woman s whine^ 

Sadness ought not to dw^ell in danger, nor the tear in the eye of 
war. Ossian, Temora, b. ii. 

Note*«, p. 100.] 

Thus long to stay, and empty still return. 

Turpe est mansisse diu vacuumque redire. 

Erasm. Adag. 

Inanem redire turpissimum. Cic.de Off. 

AlSijjg yap fidXa ttoXKov ettl xpovov ev6a fxevovrag. 
"EfXfjLevai aTrpijKTOvg, 

Quint. Cal. ix. 

'Twere shame to linger here such length of time 
And all for nothing. 

NotC^^ p. lOO.] Wait, friends, await. 

Or durate magnanimi, e voi stessi 
Serbate, prego, ai prosperi successi. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. v, s. 91. 

Be strong therefore, and keep your valours hie, 

To honour, conquest, fame, and victory, Fairfax. 

Quae vos dementia, dixi, 
Concitat, o socii, captam dimittere Trojam 2 
Quidve domum fertis decimo, nisi dedecus, anno ? 

Ovid. Met. xiii, 227 . 



126 NOTES. 

What do you 1 O what madness mates said I 
Provokes you to abandon yielding Troy 1 Sandys. 

Ten years nigh spent, what will you bear away 
But infamy 1 I this and more did say. 

Ah, dicea, valent' uomini^ ah compagni. 
Ah fratelli, tenete il luogo vostro, 
Inimici faranno opra di ragni, 
Se non manchiamo noi del dover nostro ; 
Guardate I'alto onor, gli ampli guadagni, 
Che Fortuna vincendo oggi ci ha mostro ; 
Guardate la vergogna, e il danno estremo, 
Ch' essendo vinti a patir sempre avremo. 

Ariost. Orl. Fur. c. xviii, s. 43. 

** O valiant men," he — " O companions," cries, 
*' O brethren, stand, and yet your place maintain ; 
Like cobweb-threads our cruel enemies 
Will find their works, if we our part sustain. 
What this day Fortune offers to our eyes, 
If now we conquer, see the praise and gain ! — 
If conquered, see the utter loss and shame 
Which will for ever wait upon your name !" 

Stewart Rose. 



Note^^p. 101.] 

What now your plighted leagues — the oath ye swore. 

En dextra fidesque. 

Virg. ^n. iv, 597. 

Note 43, p. 102.] 

Yes, on our right the accordant lightning came. 

Prospera Jupiter his dextris fulgoribus edit. Cic. Div. 2. 



NOTES. 127 

Note ^\ p. 103.] 

And soon our hands the strength of Ilion yoke. 

O vivo specchio 
Del valor prisco, in te la nostra gente 
Miri, e virtu n' apprenda : in te di Marte 
Splende 1' onor, la disciplina, e 1' arte. 

Oh pur avessi fra 1' etade acerba 
Diece altri di valore al tuo simile 
Come ardirei vincer Babel superba, 
E la Croce spiegar da Battro a Tile. 

Tssso, Ger. Lib. c. vii, s. 69. 

O venerable Sire ! 
Mirror of ancient zeal, in v^^hom we see, 
And seeing, learn the virtues we admire ; 
Art, honour, discipline, and worth in thee. 
Shining with knightly grace, harmoniously agree. 

If but ten more, thine equals in desert. 
Of vigorous years, were in my aid combined. 
This haughty Babel would I soon subvert, 
And spread the Cross from Thule ev'n to Ind. 

WifFen, vol. i. 
Note 45, p. 103.] 

But nowj haste each to banquet, and anon 

To-day we feast and hear the song : 
To-morrow break the spears I 

Nunc adeo, melior quoniam pars actra diei. 
Quod superest, laeti bene gestis corpora rebus 
Procurate viri: et pugnam sperate parati. ' 

Virg. .^n. ix, 157. 

But now, since day is fading in the sky, 

Hence ! and with food and rest the nerves supply ; 



128 NOTES. 



1 



And, pleased with what is happily begun, 
Expect the triumph of to-morrow's sun ! 

Symmons, vol. ii. 

Note 46, p. 103.] 

Well whet his steel, and well his buckler brace. 

Order ye the buckler and the shield, and draw near to battle. 
Harness the horses ; and get up ye horsemen, and stand forth with 
your helmets ; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. 
Jeremiah, xlvi, 4. Comp. xli, 11, 12. 

Note 47, p. 103.] 

Then o'er each breast let belted buckler sweat. 

Let each assume his heavy spear, each gird on his ^father's sword. 
Let the dark helmet rise on every head ; the mail pour its lightning 
from every side. The battle gathers like a storm ; soon shall ye 
hear the roar of death. Ossian Carthon. vol. i, p. 84. 

Let each bind on his mail, and each assume his shield. Stretch 
every spear over the wave : let, every sword be unsheathed. Ossian 
Lathmon. vol. i, p. 334. 

Note 48, p. 103.] Man-compassing ; 

— MripovQ TS Kvr]fJiag ts Karoj Kal arkgva Kai oj^ovq 
'AajridoQ svpeirjQ yacrrpl KaXvifjajXEVog. 

Tyrt. El. iii, 23. 

Breast and stout shoulders, ancle, knee and thigh, 
Fenced round, within the broad shield's hollow lie. 

Note 49, p. 103.] Whirling the chariot ; 

Quantus equis quantusque viris in pulvere crasso 
Sudor. 

Stat. Theb. iii, 210. 



NOTES. 129 

— Qui dominis idem ardor equis. 

Stat. Theb. vi, 390. 

Eheu quantus equis, quantus adest viris 
Sudor ! 

Hor. Od. i, xv, 9. 

Note ^0, p. 103.] 

To scare the wild dog and the vulture grim. 

Ne, morendo, impetrar potra co' preghi 
Che in pasto a' cani le sue membra i' neghi. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. vii, s. 54. 

Nor shall his dying words me so entreat, 
But that I'll give his flesh to dogs for meat. 

Fairfax. 

lo sterpe rogli il core : io daro in pasto 
Le membra lacerate agli avoltoi. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xvii, s. 50. 

I'll pluck his heart out, to the vultures I 
Will, joint by joint, his carcase cast ;—- — 

WifFen, vol. ii. 

OLU)vdlg di fSocFig Kai Qrjpai Oavovreg 

KeiffsaO' ovSs ti rvfi[3og 'v(f vfjitag 'i^sTal dtrjg. 

Quint. Calab. Par. 1. 327. 

There, lie ye there in death, 
Food for the vv^ild birds and the beasts of prey, 
Nor mound of earth rise o'er ye 

Note 'K p. 104.] 

Fall round his chief and gnash his teeth in dust. 

Corruit in vulnus ; sonitum super arma dedere : 
Et terram hostilem moriens petit ore cruento. 

Virg. ^n. X, 489. 

K 



130 ' NOTES. 

Forward he falls : his clanging arms resound : 
And with his bloody mouth he tears the hostile ground. 

Symmons, vol. ii. 

Procubuit moriens et humum semel ore momordit. 

Virg. ^n. xi, 418, 

And forward falling bite the dust in death 
Once and no more. 

Note 52, p. 105.] 

Arrnd with that Mgis of immortal mould, 
D'un bel drappo di seta avea coperto 
Lo scudo in braccio il cavalier celeste. 
Come avesse, non so, tanto sofferto 
Di tenerlo nascosto in quella veste 3 
Ch^ immantinente, che lo mostra aperto 
Forza e, ch' il mira abbarbagiiato reste, 
E cada, come corpe morte cade, 
E vengo al negromante in potestade. 

Ariost. Orl. Fur. c. ii, s. 55. 

This heavenly hellish warrior bare a shield 

On his left arm close-wrapt in silken case, 

I cannot any cause or reason yield, 

Why he would keep it covered so long space ; 

It had such force, that whoso it beheld, 

Such shining light it striketh in their face. 

That downe they fall with eyes and senses closed. 

And leave their corps of him to be disposed. 

Sir John Harrington. 

Note ^3, p. 105.] A hundred noblest beeves. 

T am aware that it is usual to understand by UarofxpoLOQ, in this 
passage, "the value of a hundred pieces of coin" (pecania), 
stamped each with the image of an ox. But surely the custom of 
remote antiquity is more than sufficient to warrant our explaining it 



NOTES. 131 

with reference to its original application. At any rate, if the bulls, 
for which our sister-island is so famed, were of a mintage similar to 
these, she would have but little reason any longer to complain of 
destitution, or want of resources at home. 

Note ^*, p. 106.] As o'er a wood. 

Nam saepe incautis pastoribus excidit ignis, 
Qui furtim pingui primum sub cortice tectus 
Robora comprendit, frondesque elapsus in altas 
Ingentem coelo sonitum dedit, etc. 

Virg. Georg. ii, 303. 

For oft, by careless shepherds left behind. 
Fire lurks unseen beneath the unctuous rind. 
Seizes the trunk, amid the branches soars, 
Sweeps thro' the blazing leaves, and fiercely roars. 

Sotheby. 

Note ^^, p. 106.] As when the soaring wild birds. 

Non passa il mar d' augei si grande stuolo, 
Quando ai soli piu tepidi s'accoglie : 
Ne tante vede mai Tautumno al suolo 
Cader, co'primi freddi, aride foglie. 

Tasso Ger. Lib. c. ix, s. 66. 

The birds, that follow Titan's hottest ray. 
Pass not by so great flocks to wanner coasts. 
Nor leaves by so great numbers fall away. 
When Autumn nips them with his first night-frosts. 

Fairfax. 

Aut ad terrain gurgite ab alto 
Quam multaB glomerantur aves, ubi frigidus annus 
Trans pontum fugat etterris immittitapricis.' 

Virg. ^n. vi, 310. 

Or thick as birds, when their assembled host 
In fluttering myriads settle on the coast ; 

k2 



132 NOTES, 

O'er seas prepared for sunny realms to steer, 
And fly the rigors of the wintry year. 

Symmons, vol. i. 

Con quel romor con che, dai Tracj nidi 
Vanno a stormi le gru ne' giorni algenti : 
E tra le nubi a piu tepidi lidi 
Fuggon, stridendo innanzi ai freddi venti. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib. c. xx, s. 2. 

A hoarse discordant cry, 
Like that of cranes when now from wintry Thrace 
The mustering swarms their busy pinions ply, 
And thro' the clouds to a serener sky 
In clangor scud before the freezing gale ; 

WifFen, vol. ii» 

Quales sub nubibus atris 
Strymoniae dant signa grues, atque aethera tranant 
Cum sonitu, fugiuntque notos clamore secundo. 

Virg. ^n. X, 264. 

As mid the clouds 
The cranes of Strymon float in noisy crowds 
When from the south the plumy nations sail 
And their glad signals vibrate on the gale. 

Symmons, vol. vh 

Ingenti clangore grues asstiva relinquunt 
Thracia, cum tepido permutant Strymona Nilo. 

Claudian. de BelL Gildon. 475. 

Not such the clang when cranes their host dispose 
To fall tremendous on their pigmy foes. 
As, warm'd by summer's daily fading smile 
They leave their Strymon for the warmer Nile. 

Howard. 

Strymona sic gelidum, bruma pallente, relinquunt, 
Poturae te, Nile, grues. Lucan. Phars. v, 711 . 



I 



NOTES. 133 

So cranes in winter Strymon's cold forsake 

To drink warm Nile. May. 

Quae Nilo rautare soletis 
Threicias hyemes. Id. vii, 832. 

Birds that from Thrace to Nile in winter go. May. 

So too Statins, 

Ceu patrio super alta grues Aquilone fugatae 
Cum vid^re Pharon, hinc aethera latins implent. 
Tunc hilari clangore sonant ; juvat orbe sereno 
Contempsisse nives, et frigora solvere Nilo. 

As cranes, in hurrying flight driv'n wildly forth 
O'er the deep Ocean by their native North, 
When from afar the Beacon-Tower they see, — 
Fill the wide air, and clang with cries of glee ; 
Keckless of snow, they hail heaven's sunny smile, 
And thaw their frozen plumage in the Nile. 

Yet the above are rather illustrations of a simile in the third Book 
of the Iliad (lin. 3.) than of the passage imm.edia.tely before us. 

'HvTs Trep fcXayy^ yepdviov TreXtt ovpavoOi 7rp6, 
A'lT f Tret oifv %£tjLiaiva tpvyov Kal d9E(T(parov oixfipov, 
KXayyy raiye TrsTOvrai ett' 'QKeavdlo podiov 
'Avdpdm JJvy [jLaioKJL <p6vov Kal Krjpa (pspovaai. 

Dinning like cranes, which o'er the face of heaven, 
Forth by sharp frost and showers incessant driven, 
Shrill screaming fly ; o'er ocean's darkened flood 
To pigmy warriors wing'd with doom of blood. 

Jam varias pelagi volucres, et quae Asia circum 
Dulcibus in stagnis rimantur prata Caystri. 

Virg. Georg. Lib. i, 383. 

Now fowl of watery kind. 
That in Cayster's lakes with bill declined, 
Pry o'er the meads of Asius. Nevile. 



134 NOTES. 

Ceu quondam nivei liquida inter nubila cycni, 
Cum sese e pastu referunt, et longa canoros 
Dant per colla modos ; sonat amnis, et Asia longe 
Pulsa palus. 

Virg. .^n. vii, 699. 

Like snowy swans, when they, thro' fields of air. 
Back from their pasture to the floods repair. 
Sweet strains flow thrilling thro' their lengthened throats, 
And pleased Cay ster warbles with their notes. 

Symmons, vol. ii. 

Note ^, p. 106.] Dense as the buds. 

"H oaa (pvXKa x^y^^^^ TrepiicXadeoQ nscrev vXr]Q 
^v\\ox6({> ivl fJLrfvi' Tig av rdde TSKiirjpairo, 

Apollon. Argon, iv., 216. 

Thick as the sere-leaves of the bowery wood 
Fall oiF, when blow the winds of Autumn rude. 
Strewing the sward : — and who can number them ? 

Quam multa in sylvis autumni frigore primo 
Lapsa cadunt folia. 

Virg. ^n.vi, 309. 

As numerous as the leaves in forest glades, 

When boisterous Autumn shatters first their shades. 

Symmons, vol. i. 

Note^^ p. 107.] 

Towers a brave bull the pasturing heifers' pride, 

Viribus editior caedebat ut in grege taurus. 

Hor. Sat. 1, iii, 110. 

Just as the greatest bull amongst the herd. 

Creech. 



FINIS. 



ERRATA. 

P. 3. 1. 17. for arrows read arrow. 

P. 5. 1. 24. for heart-striken read heart-stricken. 

P.. 8. 1. 19./or heav'ns reaA heaven's. 

P. 11. 1.27. /or Pei'ithoiis read Peirithoiis. 

P. 30. in note, ybr vaccorsi read raccorsi. 

P. 33. in note, /or futti read tutti. 

P. 37, last line, /or tyrant's read tyrants'. 



OXFORD : PRINTED BY TALBOYS AND BROWNE. 



^ U ^ i*> 



I 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



003 060 110 5 % 



li 









ii^jk'^' 



'/cm:. 



